Wings of Hope
by Hikaru Tsuki
Summary: Seadra is your average teenage girl in the world of Pokemon. But when she discovers a secret about herself, her entire life is thrown into chaos. (Complete)
1. Prologue

Prologue

"What are you waiting for, Seadra?!" Andy shouted, "Finish him off!" She ordered. 

I gulped and looked down at the man who had destroyed so many lives, including our own. I wasn't sure exactly what I felt when I looked down at his terrified expression. He deserved to be killed for his crimes, but nothing would come of it. It was hard to believe a few minutes ago he had the chance to kill Andy, Carol and myself. We're different from regular teenage girls—we have wings and special elemental powers. It's hard to explain the whole story, but it started with the man I was given the chance to kill right then and there, Mason. 

Carol, Andy and I don't consider ourselves human-enough to walk among regular people down busy streets like most. We have wings and strange powers of different elements. While I had the ability to use electric attacks like a Raichu, Andy could use the fire attacks of pokemon such as Ninetales and Carol used water attacks like a Lapras. It's a long story with how we got these abilities and who Mason was

"Seadra!" Andy screamed as she smacked my back with one of her wings, "Just finish him off with an electric attack!" She gave me one of her unforgiving glares. With her flaming red hair, blond bangs and ocean-blue eyes, her glares were just brutal. Andy's the oldest of us three, and the most mature. 

I looked back down at Mason, the one I used to look to—the one I trusted with my life. The golden rings in his eyes were almost gone and his sweat messed up his brown hair and dripped down his scar. He wasn't running, he wasn't going to, I knew it. He knew he was trapped, you could tell by the look on his face. He wasn't going anywhere. Any slight movement he would make would probably result in Andy, Carol and I to attack him all at once with our strongest attacks. Normally, we would have our pokemon with us to back us up. But this was between him and us. 

I looked behind him to see Carol. Her wings were tucked in onto her back and I could see the tenseness in her green eyes. Carol was always the tense one of us. She was always shy and nervous, but not now. I had never seen her so intense in my 15-year life. For the first time, we just went out and did whatever she felt was right, or more what Andy thought was right, which was to kill Mason for everything he did to us. 

"If you don't do it, Seadra, I will." Carol said in a straight tone. She was serious, this was really important to her. 

But I thought to myself, it wasn't right; I didn't want to do it. I couldn't, and I wouldn't let Andy or Carol do it either. I looked back to Andy with a serious expression, "No. I won't do it. It's not right. It doesn't matter what Mason did, no matter how awful. We've done enough to him. We already destroyed his own life. There was no need to take it away now. Please Andy" I pleaded. 

"Are you thinking straight, Seadra?" Andy growled, "Don't you remember everything he did to us? Don't you remember what he did to Victoria?! Shoot, stop and think about it, damn it!" 

Suddenly, red lights from around the lab-like room began to flash and whirl around. An alarm went off and its rings stung my ears. The walls began to shake and glass jars and other strange objects began to fall off the shelves around the room. Andy and Carol looked around, trying to figure out what caused the place's alarm to go off. 

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw Mason take advantage of the situation and reach into one of his pockets of his leather jacket and pulled out a pistol. He had it aimed straight at me. I froze. I could see straight down the hole where a bullet could shot out of in a split second. Carol and Andy paused. They knew if they tried anything, he could fire. It was then everything that had happened in the past two years flashed right before my eyes. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter #1

It all started two years ago. I lived among my mother and my father. They both loved me with all their hearts and would never choose anything over me. I was always number one with them; they would never push me aside. They loved me more than anything. 

My mother was beautiful. She had navy-blue eyes, a light toned skin and flowing black hair that went down to her waist. Meanwhile, my father had dirty-blond hair, green eyes and a strong build. I was a mix between them. I had my father's blond hair mixed with my mom's long, flowing hair, my mother's navy-blue eyes and most of my father's personality. While my mother was sometimes stubborn and would always look before she leapt, my father was the complete opposite. He would jump into situations without concitering consequences and wasn't stubborn at all. 

My mother had a huge obsession with her favorite pokemon, Seadra. When I was born, the first thing she did was name me after her favorite pokemon—my name is Seadra, Seadra Reef to be exact. My father loved the name, he always said it suited me, though I didn't believe it much. 

Of course, my family wouldn't be complete without my loyal pokemon, Raichu. Raichu was found as a Pichu soon after I was born. In fact, the night we took Pichu in from a storm, a Team Rocket member attempted to break into our house, but Pichu used a Thunder Shock attack and scared him off. For that, we kept it. Now, Raichu is my pokemon. I love it just as much as my parents love me. 

My life was pretty normal for most of my life. That is, until I turned seven. I was playing with Raichu one day when I stumbled into my parent's closet. There, I found a beautiful painting of a woman wearing flowing silk clothing standing infront of a sunset. What was so special about this painting was that the woman had wings. 

When I mentioned the painting to my mother, she quickly covered my mouth. "Quiet, Seadra! Your father might hear!" He growled as she hurdled me into my room and closed the door. She seemed awfully nervous, and I didn't understand why. 

"What's wrong?" I asked her as Raichu hopped onto my bed, which was its favorite place to lay down. I sat down on the carpeted floor, looking up at my mother.

She looked down at me, almost sweating. "I'm sorry." She sighed and turned away, "I over reacted that's all" She paused for a few moments, then continued, "I guess I should explain. I've kept it away from you for too long"

I blinked, "Kept what away?" I asked, baffled. 

My mother had a tear rolling down her cheek and her hands were shaking. I didn't understand what was wrong. "I'm not like your father. I'm not like most of the people you see walking down the streets. Seadra, I'm a Rukonian." 

I froze, almost as if time had paused itself. I remember my father telling me about the Rukonians. They were a race that once lived on a remote island out in the largest ocean called Rukonia. The place was only discovered about a century ago. Rukonians were known as the winged people. They had wings on their backs, but they could hide them beneath their skin. When they did that, you couldn't see them at all. When the people who discovered the island declared it as their own, the Rukonians fought back to protect their land. A huge war broke out. During this war, many of the Rukonians fled Rukonia in an attempt to save their own lives. Soon after, around seven decades ago, a bomb was dropped down on the island—no one survived the blast. From then on, all Rukonians that were found in Kanto were killed. I never understood why the people of kanto and Johto hated the Rukonians so much, but I never asked about it. 

"Mother Are you saying I'm a Rukonian too?" I asked, my voice was shaking. If it was true, that meant my own life was in danger. If anyone knew about it, they could easily report me to one of the anti-Rukonian groups. They were known to attack Rukonians, sending them to hospitals. Sometimes, they would even kill. 

My mother didn't say anything for so long, that it felt like hours, even though it was only minutes. "Yes" She finally replied, "You have wings. You sprouted them when you were first born, but your father wasn't there. He hates Rukonians, he doesn't know I'm one. Please, don't let your father know. If he finds out, he'll report us to one of those Anti-Rukonian groups You must keep this a secret Don't tell anyone. Your life will be in danger" 

I nodded quickly. Knowing I was a Rukonian was like being cursed. If anyone found out that I was one of the winged people from Rukonia, I could get myself beaten in the middle of a street or even killed. The thought brought tears to my eyes. I was only seven years old; it was hard to believe this was happening. 

"Mother Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I finally asked.

She looked at me—almost crying. I felt bad, though I knew this wasn't my fault. "I thought you could live your life not knowing But I know now that you should know. This doesn't mean you can't still play with all your friends. Everything will be the same. Just be a regular seven-year-old girl, Seadra. But you must remember to hide your wings. Never let them out. Don't let anyone know of them. Do you understand?"

I nodded. 

* * *

Years past since that day. During that period, I grew up a lot. I spent more time training my Raichu and Eevee I got as a present from my grandmother. Raichu seemed to get stronger everyday and so did Eevee. I did wonder why Eevee never evolved into an Umbreon or Espeon, but it didn't matter. I loved Eevee just the way it was. 

I began to wonder what it would be like to gather official gym badges to get into the Pokemon League. The thought of travelling around Kanto and training pokemon always excited me, but my mother forbid me from doing this. She told me that I couldn't, because it was a risk for me, a Rukonian, to be travelling around so much. 

When I turned 13, a huge chain of events changed my life forever. I just got back home from the park where I trained Raichu and Eevee to find my father there, just glaring at me. At first, I didn't understand what was going on, so I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. 

"What is it, father?" I asked as I looked up at him. Eevee was perched on my head and Raichu stood beside me. Both of them had their ears folded back.

My father just looked at me—it felt like hours and I was beginning to get tense. Why was he staring at me like that? I didn't do anything wrong. Finally, he spoke up. "I know." He said in a straight tone. His expression didn't change.

I blinked, "Know what, father?" I asked. 

"You're a filthy Rukonian, Seadra." He growled. Before I could say anything, he threw me onto the floor. "You're a Rukonian!" He shouted angrily and kicked my stomach. 

I cringed at the kick. For a few seconds, it felt like I couldn't breathe. I lifted myself up and looked up to my father. How did he know I was a Rukonian? How? "Father" I started, whimpering. I didn't get to finish my sentence—he kicked me again. 

"Your mother is one too, isn't she? You two and all from her side of the family are all filthy Rukonians!" He was screaming by then. My ears rung from it and tears began to roll down my cheeks. "Speak up, Rukonian!" He demanded. 

I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to tell him my mother was a Rukonian too. He would send us both and all from her side of the family to one of those Anti-Rukonian groups. I wondered how he found out. I didn't understand how he knew. I didn't reply to his questions—I wasn't going to. 

"Rukonian!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. I prayed that my mother would come home from the grocery store soon before he kicked me again. I got lucky, it was then the door opened and she walked in. 

"Seadra!" She gasped as she saw me lying on the floor, holding my stomach with tears rolling down my cheeks. She looked at my father with a look of shock, "What do you think you're doing?!" 

My father gave my mother the same glare she gave me, "You're a Rukonian. Admit it. Seadra's one. You're one too. Admit it." He used the same straight tone. His hands were in fists. I had never seen him so angry. Again, I wondered how he found out.

My mother shook her head, "Please Please understand." She started, "Yes, it is true, Seadra is a Rukonian But I'm not" Her voice was shaking. I couldn't believe what she had just said She told my father she wasn't a Rukonian, but I was! What was going on?! 

"How is that possible?" He asked. He looked down at me. I was about to get up, but he kicked me down again. I decided not to try to get up until this was over. 

Tears began to form in my mother's eyes. Her hands were shaking and she hid them behind her purse so my father couldn't see. "Seadra is adopted. Our baby died at birth, but I didn't want to except it So I asked the nurse if there were any newborn abandoned babies there. There was, but only one Seadra. I adopted her, so you wouldn't be upset. They told me she was a Rukonian, but I thought if she never knew, it would all be okay I'm so sorry I should've told you" My mother then broke into tears. She lied! She was lying! I knew she was! But what she said still made me cry. I cried because I was scared with what my father would do to me. 

But, it was then I realized why she lied. If she admitted to being a Rukonian, my father would not only report me to an Anti-Rukonian group, but my mother and all of her family as well. My father hated Rukonians more than anything—but I never knew why. 

My father seemed to believe her. He smiled and walked over to her and hugged her. "I'm sorry I accused you of being one of those filthy Rukonians. You're such as wonderful woman, no Rukonian could be as wonderful as you are." He spoke softly to her and ran his hands through her hair tenderly. 

Raichu looked at me and folded its ears back; "Chuu" it sighed as Eevee began to lick the tears from my cheeks. I lifted myself up onto my knees and hugged them both close to me. I wasn't going to say anything to my father. I decided to keep my mouth shut and see what he was going to do.

"You didn't deserve to have to raise a Rukonian, my wife." My father continued as she cried on his shoulder. I knew she wasn't crying because she raised a Rukonian, she was crying because of her lie. She knew what could happen to me. I wasn't going to protest though, as long as my mother and her family were safe, I guessed it would be better off that way. My father then turned and looked at me, "Rukonian," he started, "get up. Let's go."

I didn't say anything as I got up onto my feet, holding Eevee in my arms. My father walked out the front door and I followed along with Raichu. Before walking out the door, I looked to my mom and whispered, "It's okay, mother. I understand" To this, she cried even more. I sighed and followed my father, who felt like a stranger, into the car. He drove down the busy streets of the rough parts of the city before he finally stopped infront of a huge building. I knew what it was—an Anti-Rukonian group building. I gulped.

My father got out of our old car and I followed him, still not saying anything. Raichu stayed by my side as we entered the building. Every second felt more and more tense than the last. I was scared. After walking up several fleets of stairs, we made it to a room where a man sat. He looked at us with an expression that scared me even more.

"What do you want?" He asked as he lit up a cigarette. "I got a meeting in twenty minutes" He muttered as he sat down on one of the wooden chairs in the room. The walls were leaking and the room carried the smell of several cigarettes. 

My father sat down on a chair on the opposite side of the room. I just stood by the door as Raichu and Eevee whimpered. They were just as scared as I was. "This girl" My father sighed, "She's a Rukonian. A filthy Rukonian. I found her with her wings spread in a park. Do what you want with her. Get rid of her." I couldn't believe what she was saying. I remembered when my parents loved me more than anything in the world. They would do anything for me, anything. Now, my father was literally getting me killed. 

The man looked over to me. His glare made me shiver and I hugged myself tightly. I wanted to go home He began to talk, but I didn't bother listening. I wanted to get out of there. It didn't matter what I had to do—but I wanted to get out. I noticed a large window only a few feet away from where I stood. I looked back at the man and my father, making sure they weren't watching me. When I was sure they weren't, I ran for the window. I had to act as quick as possible. Using my elbow, I smashed the glass and leapt straight through the window. The hit hurt like hell, and I got some of the glass in my arm. I still had Eevee in my arms and Raichu followed me quickly. It then occurred to me how high the building was. Before I could think through it, I slammed into a Dumpster filled with garbage. I was lucky; not much of the garbage was very solid, so I didn't get hurt too badly. But Unfortunately, I slammed my head against something that was hard enough to get me into a daze for a split second. I shook it off though. 

Raichu landed beside me and I looked over it quickly to make sure it was okay. I could hear shouting from above. I looked up to see my father and the man there, shouting loudly for people to catch me. I stumbled out of the Dumpster and ran down the cold, empty streets as fast as I could. It was dark out, so it made getting away easier. 

As I ran down an alley, I looked behind me to make sure no one was following. Unfortunately, it was then when I ran straight into someone. I was knocked back by the impact but I got up quickly. I looked up to see a male. He had golden colored eyes, ruffled brown hair and a scar running down his right cheek. I began to back away slowly and nervously.

"You're a Rukonian?" He asked as he approached me. I didn't say anything. "You are one. I know it. Come with me, I know a place you can hide." He said softly as he extended one of his gloved hands out to me. 

I had nowhere to go, and no one to turn to. I nodded quickly and he grabbed my hand and we ran down the alley. My mind was spinning. So much had happened that day. I couldn't stop thinking about my mother's lie and my father's harsh words. I think it had something to do with hitting my head, because in a matter of seconds, I began to get dizzy and I collapsed. 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter #2

When I first awoke after passing out in the middle of the alley the previous night, I didn't bother to even open my eyes in fear of what I might see. I couldn't remember much of what had happened. All I could remember was seeing my father yelling at me and kicking me. It took a few seconds before I could remember all the details. It was then I realized where I was. My eyes snapped open and I lifted myself up quickly to see three girls and the male who said he'd help me the previous night.

"I see you're awake. How are you feeling?" The male asked as he sat down on a small stool beside the bed I laid on. 

I felt tired, and I yawned. I looked at the three girls. They all appeared to be of different ages. The tallest one had long, flowing black hair and green eyes. She was wearing a white turtleneck top, an olive-green skirt and brown boots that went up to her knees. Beside her, was a girl a bit shorter than her. She had ocean-blue eyes, long flaming red hair and blond bangs. She wore a short red tank top and jean bell-bottom pants. She also had a tattoo going around her right bicept. The last girl seemed a lot younger than the other two. She had long purple hair in a ponytail and mint-green eyes. She wore a sleeveless top with a turtleneck, which was pink and a short dark purple skirt. She was wearing sneakers and long socks that went up to her knees. But that wasn't all They all had wings—they were Rukonians. 

I looked back to the male and nodded, "Uh yeah I'm fine. Thanks. Who are you? Where am I?" I asked. The room I was in was lit only by a nearby lamp. It was pretty dark; there were no windows. There were a few chairs, a table and a few beds around the room. I counted three beds, not including the one I was on. My arm hurt, I quickly glanced at it, only to find several cuts on it, and some small peices of glass in some of the deeper gashes. 

The black-haired girl stepped forward, "This man who saved your life is Mason. He protects us Rukonians. If it weren't for him, all of us would've ended up in the hands of the Anti-Rukonian groups. You should thank him." She explained as she sat down beside the bed. 

I looked back to Mason and smiled, "Thanks Thanks a lot." It was then I realized Raichu and Eevee weren't there. I looked around franticly, fearing they were left behind the night before. "Where are my pokemon? Where's Raichu and Eevee?!" I asked. 

Mason smiled and got up and walked out of the room. I figured Raichu and Eevee were okay and that Mason had just gone out to get them, so I calmed down a bit. I decided I'd get to know the three girls. I looked to them, all but the red-haired girl smiled at me. "Who are you?" I asked. 

The black-haired girl replied to my question again, "I'm Victoria." She pointed over to the red-haired girl, "That's Andy and this is Carol." She explained as the purple haired girl sat down beside Victoria. "Like you, we're Rukonians. Mason helped us all out when we managed to escape from that Anti-Rukonian group building."

I nodded, "My name is Seadra, Seadra Reef". I explained. Victoria nodded. "Is Mason a Rukonian too?" I asked. It made sense for him to be one too. Why would a regular person want to help a bunch of Rukonians anyways? From the way things were, it seemed almost all regular people hated us. I felt it was really unfortunate though. 

Andy looked over to me and shook her head. "No, he's not. And honestly, I don't know if I trust him. I think he's hiding something from us" She looked back to Victoria, "I don't understand why you think he's so great and all." She muttered. 

Victoria sighed, "I'm sorry. But Andy doesn't think much of Mason, even though he saved her life. I think we should all respect and trust him. He's done so much for us."

I nodded and began to fiddle with my hair. I hopped Mason would get back with Raichu and Eevee soon. I was beginning to get worried about them. I closed my eyes and thought about the previous day. It scared me to think that I may never see my mother again. My father probably hated Rukonians enough to post pictures of any known ones on buildings so people will catch them. Again, I glanced over at the cuts and gashes on my arm with the tiny peices of broken glass in them. I remembered there being alot more glass in my arm the previous night from when I jumped through the building of the Anti-Rukonian group. I figured Mason and the three girls had removed them. 

I then heard footsteps from behind. I spun around to find Mason there, smiling. He had Eevee curled up in his arms, sleeping, and Raichu beside him. When Raichu saw me, it ran over to me, shouting loudly. I smiled and spread my arms out and it jumped into my arms. I hugged it tightly, relieved it was okay. "Raichu!" I cried. I looked up at Mason as he walked over to me. He laid Eevee down beside me on the bed. It opened its eyes slightly and smiled at me. I stroked it's fur gingerly, "Are you okay, Eevee?" I asked. It nodded and Raichu hugged me again.

Mason sat down on a chair beside the lamp. I looked back to Victoria as she helped Carol brush some dirt off her wings. I began to wonder how I could get my wings to show. I had never done it before since I was just a baby. Perhaps Victoria, Carol or Andy could tell me. "Victoria?" I asked. I figured asking her would be best. She seemed to be the oldest of the three girls. 

Victoria looked back at me and smiled warmly in a motherly way, "Yes, Seadra? What is it?"

"How do I spread my wings?" I asked nervously. I felt kinda stupid asking that question. The three girls probably all thought I knew how to already. I was probably the only Rukonian in the world who didn't know how to spread her wings.

Victoria walked over to me and sat down beside me on the bed. Raichu moved aside for her and in the process, tripped over Eevee. In a matter of seconds, the two pokemon were running around the room, chasing each other and laughing. "You have to concentrate at it. It's just like flexing muscles. Push out from your back. Try." 

What she said didn't make the most sense in the world to me, but I gave it a shot. I closed my eyes and pushed my back out. At first, nothing happened. When I tried the second time, I suddenly felt a tearing pain in my back, which caused me to scream. My wings spread out from my back, ripping a huge hole on the back of my shirt. The pain was almost as bad as when I jumped through the glass window the previous night and slammed down into the Dumpster. Fortunately, the pain ceased soon after. I opened my eyes and looked behind me to see two white-feathered wings. They were absolutely beautiful. I spent a few moments just looking at them in awe.

Andy walked over to me and slapped my back. "Bit loud there, Seadra?" she asked, giving me an irritated look. I folded my wings back, which was just like moving an arm or leg, and looked down. I figured the other girls may have been used to the pain or it just didn't effect them as much.

I looked up as Carol sat down on Victoria's lap. "Don't mind Andy, Seadra. I could tell by your yell that you haven't spread your wings before, or in a long time. If you spread them frequently, it doesn't hurt. Victoria taught me that when I first met them." Carol spoke very softly and quietly. She seemed nervous talking to me. 

"My mother told me that when I was born was the only time I ever spread my wings." I explained as I stroked the soft feathers on my wings. I was beginning to like being a Rukonian. Having wings seemed really cool. I guessed Victoria, Carol and Andy would have to teach me to fly. It was then I remembered how much people hated Rukonians and wanted them all destroyed. I sighed. "I guess 13 years worth of being tucked in like that made spreading them painful"

Andy paused, "13 years?! Holy smokes! When did you find out you're a Rukonian?!" She blurted out. I began to feel uneasy. It occurred to me that the rest of the girls had spread their wings a lot earlier than I just had when it came to age.

I nodded shyly, "Yeah. I'm 13. My mom told me I was a Rukonian when I was seven. I never spread them because my father hated Rukonians more than anything. He doesn't know my mother's one though. I don't know how, but when he found out I was one yesterday, my mother lied and told him I was adopted in order to save her own life and everyone from her side of the family It's been less than a day, but I miss my mother so much" My voice was beginning to shake and so were my hands. I wrapped my wings around myself as I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. Raichu and Eevee walked over to me and nuzzled my legs, trying to comfort me.

Mason looked back at me. I guess my crying got his attention. "Seadra," he started as he got up from his chair and walked over to me, "the reason I brought you here was because I wanted to help. And helping you is what I'm going to do. We're your new family. If you ever need help, just come to us." He extended his arms out, "This place is your new home. Here, you're safe from the dangers of the outside world where people will hunt you down like dogs."

Andy walked away and leaned back against one of the walls with her arms crossed. "Stupid people of Kanto and Johto. They're complete morons if you ask me. They want to get rid of us only because we have wings. That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard if you ask me." She muttered as she kicked a small stuffed Pikachu across the room. 

Carol watched Andy as she kicked the Pikachu across the room. "Andy!" She cried as she ran over to where the Pikachu hit the wall and picked it up, "Don't do that! You know how important my Pikachu doll is!" 

Andy shrugged and looked away, almost not caring. I felt bad for Carol, but I didn't say anything. Victoria walked over to her and gave her a comforting hug and put the Pikachu doll on one of the beds. "Andy" Victoria sighed, "You gotta start respecting Carol's stuff better than that. That Pikachu doll is only thing she has left from her dad." Hearing this, I figured it was Carol's father who was a Rukonian.

Carol sighed and sat down beside the bed Victoria put her Pikachu doll. She looked over to me and frowned, "My daddy was sent to an Anti-Rukonian group a few years ago They were looking for me but I managed to get away Victoria helped me" It was such a sad thing to hear. Carol was probably no older than 10 and she had no family. It seemed she and Victoria were very close from the way they acted around each other. They almost seemed like sisters. 

"That's so sad" I frowned as Carol wiped a tear from her eye. I looked over to Victoria as she handed Carol her Pikachu doll. "Victoria, how did you and Andy end up here?" I asked. I wondered if asking such as question would be rude. 

Victoria nodded, "Yeah. But Andy won't even tell **us** her story unfortunately. Mason and I have been friends since we were only five years old. When my parents were accused to being Rukonians when I was nine, I ran away and he helped me. It was his idea to help other Rukonians like you, Andy and Carol."

I found her story quite interesting. I noticed Carol and Victoria's stories were both pretty vague, but it made sense. I didn't want to go into much description with my own story very much either. 

* * *

Later on that day, Victoria helped me remove the rest of the broken peices of glass from the cuts and gashes on my arm. It hurt like hell, but I survived through it. Unfortunately, removing them caused my arm to bleed alot, so I had to bandage it up. Victoria explained it would heal in a few days, so it was nothing to worry about.

I spent the entire day talking to Victoria, Carol and Andy. Carol and Andy didn't say much. Victoria explained that Carol was always shy and Andy didn't like new people very much. Mason was out for most of the day but he came back with McDonald's. After we ate, we spent more time talking. I found out Carol had a Lapras she got as a present before her father was taken away from her. It was kept in a pokeball and they would sometimes go out to the river and let it swim around. Meanwhile, Andy had a Ninetales and a Sandslash. I met Ninetales when I accidentally stepped on one of its tails while chasing after Eevee and Raichu. Andy explained that her Ninetales preferred to stay under her bed most of the time, but she kept her Sandslash in a pokeball. Victoria had a Sunflora; it was given to her by Mason when they were young.

Mason was kind enough to give me a couple pokeballs for Raichu and Eevee for me to use when necessary. I didn't feel like putting them in, so I let them meet the others' pokemon. They all seemed to get along well, which was a relief for me. 

Since there was only 4 beds—Victoria, Carol, Andy and Mason all had one for themselves, I wondered if I would have to sleep on the floor. Fortunately, Mason was kind enough to let me use his bed. Each bed had a small table beside it where we could put our belongings. The bed was nice and soft, and Raichu and Eevee seemed to like it too. Mason explained that I could keep the bed, since he already had a couch in a smaller room. The place they stayed in had only two rooms. The one with the girls' beds, a few tables and lamp, and one with a black and white TV, a couch and another small table. 

That night, as I laid in my new bed with Raichu and Eevee as the other girls slept, I could hear the faint voices coming from the TV in the other room. I figured Mason was still awake. I thought to myself about my new life that I would be stuck with for the rest of my life. I would be hiding from people in there, and whenever I went out, I would have to make sure I had my wings in and no one recognized me. The girls were going to teach me to fly the next day, and I was a bit worried about it. 

I sighed and got up from my bed, making sure not to wake up Raichu and Eevee. I walked through the room as quietly as I could and when I got to the door to the second room, I made sure to be slow so it wouldn't squeak. I peered in through the door and saw Mason there, sitting on the couch with a blanket covering his legs and leaning against a pillow, watching TV. 

He looked over to me and smiled. "Can't sleep, Seadra?" He asked as he moved to one side of the couch so I could sit down beside him. He patted the empty side of the couch.

I walked over to him and sat down on the couch with my hands folded together. "Mason" I started with a sigh, "When Carol first got here, what happened?" I asked. I wondered if it was any different then when I got there earlier that day.

"To be blunt, she was scared senseless. She didn't trust any of us and it took her over a month until she finally said anything. Victoria spent a lot of time with her, which is why she trusts her so much. They're like sisters, really. Poor Carol doesn't have anybody besides us. But then again, you're all like that." Mason sighed as he turned off the TV and looked over to me. "Andy was a lot different though. She would talk, but would never tell us what happened to her. We still don't know actually. She doesn't trust us very much—well, actually, she doesn't trust me. I know she likes Carol and cares about her, but she'll never admit it. That's her I guess. She's been with us for about a year now."

I nodded and decided I should get to bed. I didn't say anything; I just got up and began to walk out of the room. Mason didn't say anything either. When I got to my bed, I laid down on its soft mattress and pillow and looked up at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and sighed. So, this was going to be my life


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter #3

I was awaken the next morning by the smell of McDonald's Egg Muffins and the sounds of all our pokemon running around the room and shouting loudly. I lifted myself up from the bed and stretched out my stiff arms. I looked over to the main table of the room to see Mason and Victoria handing Andy and Carol one Egg Muffin each. They even gave one to each of our pokemon. It seemed like they had McDonald's a lot, since we had it the previous day. 

I got up from the bed and sleepily stumbled over to the table. Victoria looked at me and smiled, "It's about time you woke up. It's past 9am, and we normally get up at 7am. We let you sleep in because you're new though." She laughed and handed me one of the Egg Muffins. I accepted it and sat down on one of the chairs surrounding the table and ate. 

* * *

"Rai!" Raichu squealed as it looked out the window of Mason's car. It seemed to be enjoying the view as we drove down the roads on a large mountain. The girls explained to me that they went there often, because there were so few people there. It was a good place to relax and fly around a bit. They could never do that out in the city. 

As I looked out the window at the huge body of water in the distance, I began to wonder what my mother was doing. I missed her so much, and I was worried about her. I knew that my dad could end up finding out she lied about me getting adopted and report her to an Anti-Rukonian group. The thought scared me, so I shook it off. 

During the entire ride, Carol slept and Victoria sat in the front seat with Mason. I was stuck sitting beside Andy—whom I was a bit nervous to be around. She seemed to not like me much, so I decided not to say anything to her—just in case she would decide to cut my life span in half. 

"We're almost there." Mason said as we began to drive down a dirt road. 

The car's bumping soon woke up Carol. She rubbed her tired eyes and yawned. She then looked over to me, "Are we almost there?" she asked.

Andy replied before I was given the chance, "Yeah, Carol. We'll be there in no time. Do you want me or Victoria to help you train Lapras today?" she asked. Victoria looked back at us from the front seat. 

"I think Victoria. You helped me last time, so it's only fair to let Victoria help me today. You can help Seadra learn to fly. Umm Is that okay with you two?" Carol asked nervously as she fiddled with the long strands of her hair.

Andy blinked and looked over to me. The look she gave me was like that you would give after being told to watch over a baby in its terrible two's. She sighed and nodded, "Fine" I was a bit discouraged by her reaction so I turned away from her and looked out the window. We were driving down a rough dirt road in the middle of a forest—I could see several trees. Raichu yawned and curled into a ball on my lap—Eevee was in its pokeball.

I could barely see the lake out in the distance behind the trees. It reminded me of my mom's favorite pokemon, Seadra. I missed her so much. 

A few minutes passed and the car stopped. Andy grabbed my shoulder and dragged me out of the car and Raichu followed. Once out, I could see trees surrounding a huge field where Mason had parked. To my right, was the rocky beach of the huge lake. The view was spectacular and it took my breath away. Raichu stood beside me and inhaled the sweet scent of the fresh forest air and sighed happily.

I looked over to Victoria as she threw out her pokeball. It spun through the air and opened, releasing a Sunflora. It had a wonderful smile on its face and danced around the grass field. Andy then took her two pokeballs and threw them out, revealing her Sandslash and Ninetales. Her fire pokemon swayed its tails around while her Sandslash made quick swipes with its claws in the air. Meanwhile, Carol ran over to the lake and threw her pokeball into the water. A second later, a Lapras surfaced and splashed around.

I looked down at my belt to see Eevee's pokeball. I pulled it off and tossed it into the air—it opened and out came my cute little Eevee. It didn't waste any time and soon was running around the field, just having a good time. As Raichu watched, it seemed to get all caught up and was soon chasing after Eevee in a game of tag.

I sat down in the grass and admired the view. I figured we were going to be there all day, since getting there took atleast an hour and Mason had some sandwiches packed with him. I watched as he finally got out of the car and lean up against it and put on a pair of black sunglasses. He had his arms crossed, which seemed to flex his muscles. 

"Come on, don't waste any time." Andy said from behind. I spun around to find her kneeling down behind me, resting her arms on her knees. "If you're gonna learn to fly, you can't waste your time staring at Mason." 

I blushed, it occurred to me that I was looking at Mason for more than a few moments—it was more like five minutes. "I wasn't staring at him Um I was just admiring the trees behind him!" I forced each word out of my mouth with a struggle. 

For the first time I had ever seen, Andy laughed and slapped my back. "Real funny there, Seadra." She smiled at me and got up. She closed her eyes tightly and seemed to be struggling when her wings erupted from her back and spread out. It didn't seem to hurt her at all. "Come on, Seadra, get your wings out and let's fly."

I gulped nervously and forced myself to get up. Once I did, I did what Victoria had told me to do the previous day in order to spread my wings. I pushed from my back and soon, I felt the same pain I felt before when I first spread my wings. Fortunately, this time the ripping and tearing feeling wasn't as bad—which was a relief. 

Andy smiled, "Okay, now you gotta learn how to control them properly. Try flapping them." It was odd, I thought she was going to be all rough with me, but she was actually being very gentle and kind. I guess she understood that this was my first try and there wasn't much she could expect from me. 

The previous day, I found moving my wings no different than moving your arms and legs around. I began to flap them, but not very fast or hard. I figured if I did, I could start flying and I was a bit nervous about it, since I didn't know how to land and I didn't feel much like having Andy yell at me. 

"Okay, Seadra, that's a good start. It seems you have good control over your wings, which is a good sign—not everyone can control them well. Carol found it very difficult at first." Andy smiled at me and spread her wings out as far as they could. "Now, to take wing, the best way to do it is with one strong flap with your wings. Make sure they push a lot of air down when you do it. Once you're in the air, everything will come by naturally. If you've ever pretended to be a bird as a child, this will be easy."

I nodded. When I was very young, I always wished I could fly like a bird. I would jump off my parent's bed, flapping my arms like nuts. I remembered the one time when I was convinced I flew for a split second. I took a deep breath and spread my wings out. I then angled them so when I flapped, the air would push me up. With one strong flap of my wings, I felt myself raising in the air. I knew if I stopped flapping, I would end up falling, so I flapped more and more. It didn't take long before I was atleast 10 feet above the ground. Unfortunately, I think my wings were too weak, because they began to get sore and I was getting tired. The worst part was, I didn't know how to land.

Andy noticed the problem as I struggled to stay in the air. I was scared of trying to land, so I did the only thing I could—stay there. With one strong flap of her wings, she was at my height and grabbed me by my waist. I held onto her arms as she slowly began to descend to the ground. I was relieved she helped me when she did, because I knew my wings were about to give. 

Once on the ground, I fell to my knees and sighed. "I'm sorry, Andy. I got tired and my wings were hurting" I hopped she wouldn't get mad.

Andy kneeled down beside me and put one of her hands onto my shoulder, "Don't worry about it. Your wings aren't strong enough yet. You have to make them stronger by just flapping them, but not flying. Got it?" I nodded. "Okay then, when you get your strength back, just flap. We have all day and I'm sure you'll be able to fly some and be able to land by then."

I looked up at her. It amazed me how she managed to get 10 feet above the ground with one flap of her wings, while it took me several flaps and by then, I was too tired to stay there. "Andy, when will my wings get strong enough like yours? You got so high with just one flap."

Andy sat down beside me, holding herself up with her hands on the grass. She looked up to the clouds in the sky and smiled. "It varies. Some people learn really fast, but some don't. Carol still has difficulties sometimes. Victoria can fly without any problems though. She's the best flyer of us all. Carol couldn't even get into the air at her first try. You had a good start, so don't worry about it so much." It was then Andy's beautiful Ninetales ran over to us and nuzzled up to her side. Andy laughed, "Ninetales, go back and play with Seadra's Raichu and Eevee, okay?"

Her Ninetales seemed a bit disappointed with that, but it didn't protest. I noticed Raichu and Eevee were still running around the field, they seemed to be having fun. Andy's Ninetales then ran off after them and tackled Eevee. They were all laughing and being friendly to each other. 

For the rest of the day, Andy worked hard to teach me to fly. Unfortunately, I could never spend much time in the air. The most I got was five minutes. I learnt that landing was actually very easy. All I had to do was get my wings in the same position as when I took off and let myself glide down to the ground. 

As the sun began to set, making the sky a beautiful orange color, we all stopped our training to relax and eat our dinners. Victoria and Carol spent the day training Sunflora, Lapras, Sandslash, Ninetales, Raichu and Eevee. Meanwhile, Mason spent his time reading a book and walking through the woods. I found it odd that he didn't do much with the other girls much, but I never mentioned it.

As we ate our dinner, which ended up being hot dogs cooked over a small fire made by Ninetales, we all talked about our pokemon. Victoria explained that her Sunflora was at a very high level, or it knew Solar Beam. Meanwhile, Carol's Lapras was taught many different attacks such as Thunderbolt, Psychic, Ice Beam, Bubble Beam and Mist. I thought it was so cool that Lapras were able to use so many different types of attacks. Unfortunately, her Lapras was still quite young and didn't always like to battle. Andy's Sandslash knew all the basic attacks of ground-type pokemon, and her Ninetales knew really powerful fire attacks such as Fire Blast. They all seemed surprised that Raichu knew Thunder, and Eevee knew Take Down, but I didn't.

After finishing off our hot dogs, we all decided to relax a bit before going back to our small home in the city. Victoria and Carol sat together, leaning against the car. Carol soon fell asleep and it was a cute sight, watching her sleep leaning against Victoria. They truly did look like sisters when they were like that. Meanwhile, Mason sat beside the fire, poking the burning wood with a stick—he seemed to be deep in thought. We had most of our pokemon in their pokeballs, except for my Raichu and Andy's Ninetales. 

I lay down in the grass by the fire with Raichu cuddled up close to me. I put my arm around it and stroked its soft, silky fur. I closed my eyes and sighed. I guessed living as a Rukonian like that wouldn't be so bad after all. Of course, it was a bit early to tell though. 

Suddenly, Raichu's ears perked up. It's head shot up and it looked around, "Chu?" It asked as it hopped out of my arms and looked out to the distance where a large bush was.

I lifted myself up and wondered what was wrong. "Raichu? What is it?" I asked concerned. Raichu pointed out to the bush ahead and suddenly; a huge herd of Taurus came charging out in a rage. I jumped up and started screaming. "Andy! Victoria! Carol! Mason! Taurus ahead!" I shouted. Carol woke up instantly and they all got onto their feet. 

What they did didn't surprise me much; they all spread their wings and with one strong flap, were high above the ground. I quickly pushed my wings out, which still hurt like hell, and started to flap them. I picked Raichu up just as I began to fly up above the ground. Unfortunately, my wings were still sore from my lessons that day and I didn't think I could stay up there very long. 

When I saw Mason get out of the car, Victoria swooped down and picked him up by his arms and lifted him up away from the Taurus as they approached us. When they charged by, the car was hit several times by their horns, causing huge dents. Andy held onto me just in case my wings would give, but she was already holding her Ninetales. 

My wings soon began to get tired, and the herd of Taurus was so huge, they were still passing by. It was a stampede! I didn't notice it at first, but I was slowly beginning to descend to the ground. When I did notice it, I wasn't even given a chance to react, for a Taurus struck my foot and dragged me down into the huge herd. I screamed out loud and Raichu cried out for help. I could hear Victoria, Carol, Andy and Mason all shouting for me, but they couldn't help me.

I was on my hands and knees, if I got up, a Taurus would hit my gut. I made sure to stay on my hands and knees. Unfortunately, I still had to worry about being trampled. After having my wings stomped on several times, I pulled them back. I couldn't see Raichu so I was on my own. I had to dodge each hoof as they came storming by. The sound of their running through the grass was like an earthquake. 

I thought it would never end, and I feared I would soon be tramped and killed when Raichu ran to my side and used its Thunderbolt on all the surrounding Taurus. It startled them and they all stayed atleast two feet away from all sides. I took the opportunity and picked up Raichu, spread my wings and flew up high to where the others were. They all looked at me with an expression of disbelief and pride. I managed to stay in the air long enough until the stampede ended. I landed properly but soon found my wings were damaged when they got stomped on. I surprised the girls by being able to fly with injured wings, but I didn't think much of it. 

Mason's car didn't get damaged too badly. It had several large dents on one side and that was it. We all got in and drove back to the city. I was exhausted from everything that day and fell asleep even before Carol did along with Raichu cuddled close to me. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter #4

"Sunflora! Razor Leaf!" Victoria called from the other end of the field located by the lake in the mountains. Her Sunflora, with a smile on its face then flings its leaves forward, sending them flying towards my Eevee.

Without me needing to tell it what to do, Eevee dodged each leaf swiftly. "Eevee, finish it off with a quick attack!" I shouted. Eevee then began to zigzag towards Sunflora at such high speeds; it was almost impossible to see it. Then, without warning, Eevee struck Victoria's Sunflora hard with a tackle attack, knocking it down.

Victoria had a look of total disbelief, "Sunflora!" She cried. "You can get up! Come on!" Unfortunately for her, her Sunflora was beaten—it moved its leaves around, but didn't bother to try to get up. Victoria sighed and called her sunflower pokemon back into its pokeball and walked over to my Eevee and scratched it under its chin. "That was a great battle, Seadra." She smiled up at me; "You could probably try to participate in the pokemon league if you wanted to. Your Eevee and Raichu are both really strong from what I've seen."

I smiled sheepishly and put my hand at the back of my head, "The only reason I won was because my pokemon train hard, it's not me." I looked down at Victoria as Eevee rubbed up against her and waging its tail. "I always wanted to be in the pokemon league But now, it's too dangerous. Who knows if anyone is looking for me" I sighed.

Victoria smiled at me kindly and got up, putting her hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry. One day, people will except us and won't care if we're Rukonians or not. When that happens, perhaps all of us will be able to journey together and become pokemon masters." 

* * *

I spent a few days after she said that, thinking about what Victoria said. Would people really one day except us as regular people and not as freaks of nature? The thought made me wonder if that happened, what would my father be like? Thoughts spun through my head for days on end. During those days, we didn't go back to the lake or the mountains. Instead, we spent most of our time at home, watching TV and caring for our pokemon. Mason spent most of his time playing different card games with Carol, while Victoria, Andy and I would admire the night views of the city from the roof of the tall building where I home was located. We would normally have to fly to get there, and I was beginning to get better at it. I would make sure to flap my wings everyday to build up their strength, and it was working very well. 

I never talked to Mason much, and he didn't talk to me much either. The only time he would say something to me was when he said it was time to get to bed or when he was getting our food. He seemed to talk to Victoria the most and sometimes Carol. He talked the least to Andy, mainly because she would normally ignore him. You could always feel the tension between the two whenever they talked, and it made everyone nervous that a fight could suddenly break out. 

"Victoria, Carol, Andy, Seadra!" Mason called from the small TV room while we all played Crazy Eight's. "Come here!"

We all looked at each other with confused expressions for a few moments before we all got up from the floor and ran into the small room and jumped onto the couch he was on. He laughed as we all tried to get untangled without falling off the couch. Finally, we got loose and Victoria looked to Mason. "What's up?" She asked.

Mason pointed to the TV screen, there was some bearded guy talking. I didn't know what he was talking about, until he mentioned Rukonia. Once it was mentioned, everyone went quiet and the girls' faces went pale. Mason sighed and turned the TV off, then looked at us with a smile. "You know about the Orb of Mew?" He asked.

We all looked at each other with confused expressions, then turned back to Mason and shook our heads. I never heard of the Orb of Mew before Whatever it was. 

"I heard about it a long time ago. It was supposed to come from Rukonia, the island where Rukonians once lived on before it was bombed. Anyways, the Orb of Mew was said to have amazing powers and the people of Rukonia watched over it. When people from Kanto and Johto discovered Rukonia, they found out about the Orb and wanted it for themselves to increase their pokemon's powers. The Rukonians fought back and resulted in the huge feud between the two races. Unfortunately, in their rage, the people of Johto bombed the whole island, killing almost everyone and destroying everything. The Orb couldn't be found, so people thought it was destroyed. But on the news, they said some guy went there and didn't come back. They had to send a rescue team there and he was found dead I think the Orb could've done it! Hardly anything survived the bombing and the guy didn't have a scratch on him! No pokemon could've done it!" Mason had the biggest smile on his face I had ever seen on him before. It was so strange; I began to get concerned. 

I always was told that a war broke out, but never knew why. Now, I knew. It was all over the Orb of Mew. I found it very interesting and wondered if there was anymore information on it I could find some how. 

Andy blinked, "So? Why does it matter?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mason looked with her with an expression of total disbelief—he laughed. "We can't pass this up! We should go to the ruins of Rukonia and get us that Orb! Our pokemon will be so powerful! With it, people will fear us and we can declare that Rukonians must be treated equally with the people of Kanto and Johto!"

Victoria looked concerned and spoke up, "Mason I don't know about this That guy was found dead We could end up like him Besides, I don't like the idea of people being scared of us Maybe we shouldn't do this It doesn't seem right to me" She sat down beside Mason, pushing Andy off the couch. Carol giggled to this.

Mason sighed and got up and walked out of the room. "Well, I'll let you girls decide. The Orb of Mew could change our lives forever and might help our world. Besides, I've done so much for you girls over the years. If it weren't for me, you'd all probably be dead now. I took you all in when no one else would, when you were left alone. You all owe me for everything ya know" He muttered. I could hear him walk through the room to the door. I could hear the creaking of it open, and a loud slam. Mason seemed pretty mad, and I didn't understand why.

Andy got up from the floor and sat down on the couch where Mason was sitting. "What's with him? So what if he helped us? You don't help someone to get something in return. I doubt that Orb of Mew thing will help us. All it would do is make people even more scared of us. Then again, they should. I would rather have them scared senseless of us than be hunting us down like rotten dogs." She sighed and picked up the remote and turned on the TV. I looked over to Carol to see what she would say.

She was fiddling with her hair as usual, and looking down at the floor. "Umm I don't know It sounds dangerous" She said almost in a whisper, not changing direction of her eyes from the floor. She seemed really unsure with what to think.

We all looked over to Victoria to see what she would say. Being the oldest and knowing Mason the longest, she was basically our leader—so we all looked up to her whenever a big decision was being made. She looked at the floor and appeared to be deep in thought. We all waited patiently for her to say something. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she spoke up, "I think we should."

Andy paused, "What?!"

"I think we should go," Victoria repeated herself. Carol and I looked at each other in disbelief. "Mason has done so much for us, and he's a real old friend of mine. The Orb of Mew has magnificent powers, it was raise a pokemon's strength, heal illnesses, and unfortunately, cause great destruction. Perhaps it could make us lose our wings, and no longer be Rukonians." She said as she crossed her legs and put her hands in her lap.

I was confused. True being a Rukonian meant constantly running from the Anti-Rukonian groups and losing your family, but it seemed the girls all liked the ability to fly when we went to the mountains. Though I liked the idea of living as a normal teen, I would miss my wings. "But, but Victoria!" I cried, "I thought you all loved to fly!"

Andy shrugged, "Actually, living a normal life sounds tempting But then again, why does Mason want us to get him the Orb of Mew so bad? I never trusted him much and you all know that—perhaps he's planning something" she sighed and turned the TV off—it was getting a bit distracting during our conversation. 

I looked over to Carol as she continued to fiddle with her hair. She was saying something, but none of us could hear her. She looked up at us and repeated herself, still a bit quiet, "I said it doesn't matter to me. You make the decision" 

I sighed, "I haven't been here long enough to give my own opinion of this. Andy, Victoria, it's up to you." With that, I got up and walked out of the room. Carol soon followed me. We went back into the main room and sat down on my bed along with my Raichu and Eevee. 

We talked about simple things, like pokemon and training methods. During our conversations, Eevee would lay down on Carol's lap. She was very gentle and would stroke its fur gingerly and made sure not to startle or hurt it. Meanwhile, Raichu lay in my lap. Carol was afraid to hold it, because a Raichu can use a Thunder Shock as a way of showing affection. She was a bit intimidated by its size as well, for it was atleast three times bigger than Eevee. 

After nearly two hours of talking about pokemon, Andy and Victoria walked out of the small TV room. Andy, like Mason had done before, stormed out of our home and slammed the door behind her. The loud slam startled Carol and Eevee, causing her to jump and my little puppy-like pokemon to hop off her lap and hide under my bed. 

I looked over to Victoria with an expression that asked, "What happened?" She sighed and crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. "I decided that we'll be going, but Andy got all pissed because she thinks Mason is trying to trick us to get him the Orb of Mew to cause great destruction." She burst laughing; "She's just full of it!" 

That night, as I laid in my bed, I thought about Victoria's decision and Andy's view on it. I wondered if Andy was right, Mason always seemed quiet and it bothered me a lot. Then again, Andy hated him for no good reason and she could easily just come up with whatever to turn us against him. I was horribly confused, but either way, I would have to go to the ruins of Rukonia to help the girls get the Orb of Mew. Victoria explained that it could only be tampered by Rukonians, and not normal people—which was why the Rukonians were able to keep it, and that man was found dead. Mason came back earlier with dinner, while Andy still hadn't come home yet. We were all worried, but I was told by Carol Andy did that a lot and she would be okay. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep, hoping everything will be all right. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter #5

Andy didn't come back until two days later. She never told us where she was. 

* * *

A week after we all agreed to Victoria's decision to get the Orb of Mew, we started to train our pokemon to get ready. Getting there would mean we would have to use Carol's Lapras, since the distance from the nearest beach to Rukonia was too far for us to fly. I spent most of my time practicing my flying skills. As time progressed, I got better and better. I was soon able to fly with the other girls, but I was unable to dodge Andy's Ninetales Flame Thrower attack—which was their way of practicing their dodging skills. We decided we wouldn't leave to the ruins of Rukonia until we were all prepared. 

As I fed my Raichu and Eevee an apple, I watched as Andy and Victoria battled their pokemon. Andy used her Sandslash, since her Ninetales had already battled a lot that day. Meanwhile, Victoria was using her only pokemon, Sunflora. She had the obvious type advantage, but then again, a Sandslash's dig attack could do a lot of damage. So it was a pretty even competition. 

"Sunflora, Poison Power!" Victoria called to her flower pokemon. Its body swayed around in a funny sort of way with the wind, then released a glittering power. It flew straight over to Andy's Sandslash. 

Andy made sure to react quickly; having a poisoned pokemon in battle never works. "Sandslash, get away from the powder!" She shouted. Sandslash jumped up high into the air, did a flip and landed several feet away from Victoria's Sunflora. "Now, Dig under!" With that, Sandslash jumped up again, and claws first, dove right into the ground. 

Victoria had a nervous look on her face. I could tell she was worried about Sandslash's Dig attack, it was completely capable of knocking out Sunflora with one hit. She had to think fast, before Andy's pokemon made the winning hit. "Sunflora, use your Solar Beam on the ground and blast Sandslash out!"

I looked at her stunned—what was she thinking?! The odds it would even work were low, and Sunflora will lose a lot of its energy using its Solar Beam attack. I wondered if she had done this before, so I continued to watch, not saying anything.

Sunflora began to collect the Sun's rays and formed a bright glowing orb infront of its smiling face. I watched carefully as it performed its Solar Beam attack. Then, it jumped up into the air and blasted its Solar Beam onto the ground, scanning the ground in search of Andy's Sandslash. After a few seconds, a huge amount of dirt blew up from the grass along with Sandslash. It hit the ground hard, knocked out. Victoria was the winner.

* * *

"Seadra?" Carol started as she walked up behind me while I rubbed Raichu's cheeks; "can I talk to you?" She asked quietly. I looked back to her and smiling, nodded. She sat down beside me, "Are you scared?" 

I shrugged, not wanting to admit I was nervous about getting the Orb of Mew. It seemed dangerous, but it was a good thing we were taking our pokemon with us. "Not really" I lied, "Victoria and Andy will protect us, and we have our pokemon. We'll be fine, don't worry."

Carol nodded, looking over to the lake where her Lapras was swimming around, enjoying itself. "Lapras is a good swimmer, it will take us to Rukonia safe, right?" She asked and as she turned to look at me. 

I smiled, "Lapras specialize in carrying people across water. I'm sure your Lapras will do the job just fine, don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll get the Orb easily and our lives will get better once we get it." Who was I kidding? I didn't even totally understand why the others thought the Orb of Mew was going to help us at all. I honestly didn't know what to think about everything that was going on. I sighed and laid down on the soft grass, putting my hands behind my head. Raichu curled into a ball beside me. 

Smiling, Carol got up and walked towards Lapras in the lake. She turned back to me and nodded. She then curled her hands into fists, making her knuckles white. Suddenly, her wings erupted from her back, tearing a hole on the back of her shirt. With a couple flaps of her wings, she took air and flew gracefully to the lake where Lapras was waiting for her. I couldn't help but smile while watching her fly. Sometimes, I preferred to just watch the other's fly, then fly myself. 

With Raichu curled up close to me, I gingerly stroked its silky fur coat. Eevee was in its pokeball after a hard battle with Andy's Ninetales. Unfortunately, Eevee lost the battle when it missed with a Quick Attack and Ninetales got it back with a Flame-Thrower attack. I was going to battle with Raichu soon, but I didn't know who I was going to battle. No matter who Raichu battled, I knew it would win. Raichu was my strongest pokemon and would never let me down. 

As I gazed up at the clouds above me, I noticed some looked like pokemon. I thought they looked cool so I spent what seemed like hours just searching them to discover more pokemon. The wind brushed against my face and blew my flowing hair in the air. The smell of the fresh-water lake and the pine trees surrounding me made me feel at peace. I sighed and closed my eyes, smiling to myself as Raichu drifted off to a sleep.

"Wake up!" I heard Andy shout at me. My eyes snapped open and I jumped from her yell, for it had startled me. I quickly got up and Raichu did as well. I guessed it was still sleeping like I was and Andy's yelling woke it up too. I rubbed my tired eyes and looked to Andy. She had her hands on her hips and an unforgiving glare in her eyes. "It's time for your battle, Seadra." She said in a straight tone. 

I nodded quickly and kneeled down to pick up Raichu. I stood back up and looked to her, "Who am I battling?" I asked quickly. 

Andy turned to look behind her, where Carol was caring for her Lapras. It looked weakened so I figured she just battled and may have lost. Victoria was there helping her. Andy then looked back to me; her expression was the same as before, "Victoria." She said.

Victoria from where Carol and her Lapras were looked over to me and smiling, waved. I waved back, though I didn't know why exactly. She got up from beside the Lapras and ran over to me. She was only about 50 feet away, so getting where I was didn't take her very long. "Ready to battle?" She asked with a grin, holding a pokeball in her hand.

"You bet I am!" I said confidently. I knew Victoria had only one pokemon, her Sunflora. Already it had two battles, one against Andy's Sandslash and I bet the other was against Carol's Lapras. Raichu hadn't battled at all that day, so it would probably have more energy for the battle. Of course, I was well aware that you can't judge a battle that easily. 

Victoria gave me a few minutes to get ready. I gave Raichu's cheeks another rub to get them charged up for the battle. By rubbing a Raichu's cheeks the right way, their electric power can increase. I would use this technique before every battle I used Raichu in—it helped a lot. I remember once when I didn't do it, and Raichu was unable to defeat a Bulbasaur because of it. The next day I did rub its cheeks and when we went into battle, Raichu won with one Thunderbolt attack. 

When it was time for our battle, I made sure Raichu was ready. It was throwing a few practice punches and kicks, getting its muscles ready and heart rate up. Victoria and I each stood on one side of the large grass field were we normally had our pokemon battles. She had her Sunflora beside her, smiling as usual. Andy was standing on the side of the field; she volunteered to be the referee of the battle. Carol was swimming in the lake with Lapras and Mason. He had brought a beach ball with him that day for them to play with. 

Andy raised her hand up high into the air, "Begin!" She shouted. 

Immediately, Raichu leapt up into the air, charging up for a Thunderbolt. Meanwhile, Victoria's Sunflora ran out to the field and began to use its Razor Leaf, sending several leaves at Raichu. Fortunately, Raichu was able to dodge the attack then used a hard Thunderbolt on the flower pokemon. A huge bolt of electricity shot out from its cheeks and charged straight at Sunflora. When it struck, you could hear it scream in pain. When the attack ended, Sunflora was still standing! I was shocked!

Victoria just smiled, "Sunflora is my strongest pokemon, don't expect it to give in that easily" she grinned. "Sunflora, Seismic Toss!" Victoria called out to Sunflora. It responded right away and ran over to Raichu. Before my pokemon could react, Sunflora had thrown Raichu high up into the air. While in midair and falling to the ground, Raichu used a Thunder Shock, startling the grass pokemon. Fortunately, Raichu was able to land on its feet. 

Our two pokemon stood a few feet away from each other, breathing heavily and getting ready for the other to do something. I looked over to Victoria; she was just staring at Raichu, probably trying to figure out what it was going to do next. She looked up to me and smiled, I smiled back and then shouted, "Raichu! Thunder Punch!" 

Victoria seemed surprised by my order, since it came out of nowhere and it was unexpected. Raichu charged at Sunflora, with electricity building up in its paws. Victoria had a look on panic in her eyes, trying to figure out what to do. Before she could think of something for Sunflora to do, Raichu hit it hard with a devastating Thunder Punch. Sunflora was knocked over, landing on its back with electricity sparking around it. We paused, waiting to see if it would get up. Raichu was breathing heavily, for it had used most of its electric powers during the battle. If the pokemon were to get up, Raichu would have to use its normal attacks. 

Andy ran over to Victoria's Sunflora and looked down at it. After a few seconds, she rose one arm. "Seadra is the winner! Victoria loses!" She shouted out, smiling at me from where she stood.

"Great job, Raichu!" I smiled as I kneeled down, extending my arms out to my pokemon. Raichu ran to me and leapt into my arms. I gave it a tight hug, an award for winning the battle. I looked over to Victoria as she picked up her Sunflora and stroked its pedals gingerly, making it smile. I put Raichu down and got up, walking over to her. "That was a good battle there." 

Victoria smiled at me and nodded. "It was. I'm glad I lost actually."

I blinked, baffled, "Wha?"

She laughed, "I now know that your Raichu will be capable of protecting you when we get the Orb of Mew. It's a relief to me, because I don't want you to get hurt. All our pokemon are doing well with their battles, none lost easily. We should all be fine." Victoria then turned away and walked over to the lake where Mason and Carol were still playing together in the water. I never thought about it before, but Victoria was like a big sister to not only Carol, but me as well. I wondered if Andy did too, but I didn't say anything. 

* * *

That night while laying in my bed with Raichu and Eevee curled up beside me, I wondered what would happen when we went to get the Orb of Mew. We had planned to get it in four days, giving us some time to prepare. Mason was very supportive, telling us he believed that we would get it easily. We decided to get there by riding Carol's Lapras—and Mason would be coming as well. We told him he would have to stay behind in case something was to happen. 

I could hear Carol mumbling something in her sleep. I looked over to her to see her cuddling her Pikachu doll close to her—I smiled. I rolled onto my side, facing the closed door that lead to the small TV room. Like every single night, I could hear the sounds made by the TV. Mason always stayed up late, watching his favorite late night programs. Sometimes when I was unable to sleep, I could get out of my bed and talk to him. He was always nice to me, making sure I was happy and comfortable with my new home. I believe I was there for about a month now, I'm not sure. I've found losing track of time a lot easier since I got there. 

I decided to just get some sleep. With only four days before our dangerous, yet exciting adventure, rest was important. I closed my eyes and hugged my soft pillow close, with my blankets draped over me. I sighed and with thoughts of my new family, I drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter #6

Two days before we were planning to get the Orb of Mew, my Eevee began to show symptoms of some sort of illness. I first noticed this when I was waken up in the middle of the night by its whimpering. It was lying on my bed, curled into a ball; shivering and whimpering like a lone puppy. At first, I only thought it was cold, so I let it sleep with me under my covers. Unfortunately, the following morning, it started coughing and was still shivering. Victoria—who knew a lot about pokemon illnesses—looked it over and told me it had some sort of illness, but she couldn't tell what it was. All we knew was that if it didn't fully recover soon enough, we would either have to hold back our journey to get the Orb of Mew, or we would have to leave it behind all alone. 

"We can't leave Eevee here all alone!" I cried when Victoria explained that the best solution to the problem was to leave it at home while we got the Orb of Mew. I didn't like the idea, because no one would be around to take care of it. Knowing it was ill; leaving it alone was probably the worst thing to do. Eevee could get worse with our absence and when we got back, could be in a serious condition. The thought made me shake.

Victoria sighed and stroked Eevee's fur coat gingerly while draping a small light-pink blanket over it. "I'm sorry Seadra, but I can't tell when Eevee will recover which will make things difficult if we waited for it to do so. Besides, we're not far from the time of year when Rukonia is under severe storms. By waiting, all we're doing is waiting for those storms to stop us. They last for months Seadra, and you know it." She sighed and got up, walking away towards Mason who was sitting on one of the beds with Carol, playing with her Pikachu doll. 

My hands became tight fists, making my knuckles go white. I looked over to Victoria as she and Mason entertained Carol, playing childish games. It was only recently when they finally told me their exact ages. Victoria was 17, Carol was 10 and Andy was 14—meanwhile, I was 13. I never asked Mason or anyone how old Mason was, but I guessed he was atleast two years older than Victoria, making him around 19 or so. I smiled slightly as Carol giggled when Mason and Victoria teamed up against her and began to tickle her feet and stomach. She reminded me of myself when I was younger—when my parents used to play games like that with me. I sighed.

"Rai?"

I blinked and looked down beside me, to see my Raichu there, just looking up at me. I smiled to it, making it smile as well. I picked it up, laying it onto my lap and hugging it close. "Raichu, do you remember when my mother and father used to play those childish games with me?" I asked as I stroked the silky fur on Raichu's ears. 

Raichu looked up at me and nodded, "Raichu, rai rai!" 

"That's all in the past, Seadra." Said a voice. I turned to my right to see Andy there. She was leaning against the doorway of the small TV room with her arms crossed. I didn't understand why she and the others wanted me to stop thinking about my past so much. Every time I mentioned my mother or father, they would say it was all in the past, and that those days were over. It was quite discouraging, but I tried to ignore it. 

I sighed and put Raichu down. It ran over to Andy's Ninetales—who, like always, was under her bed. Once Raichu got there, the Ninetales began to sway its tails in its face, making it laugh. I was always happy to watch our pokemon play with each other like that. I looked back to Andy to find she was no longer in the doorway. Instead, she was sitting on the couch, enjoying a can of Pepsi and a bag of chips. I had nothing else to do so I got up and walked into the small TV room. She didn't say anything to me when I walked in, but she knew I was there. I sat down beside her on the soft couch and found she was watching a program about fire pokemon. Grabbing a can of Pepsi from the small table, I watched the show, even though I wasn't very interested. 

* * *

We were all concitering calling Nurse Joy to help Eevee or take it to the Pokemon Center, but there was the risk of us being identified as Rukonians. Andy explained to me that they normally didn't need a Nurse Joy to heal their pokemon, since Victoria knew so much about taking care of pokemon. Unfortunately, she didn't know what to do with Eevee. To make things worse, Eevee wasn't getting better—it was getting worse. We were supposed to get the Orb of Mew the next day, but I didn't want to leave Eevee behind all alone. 

As I held Eevee in my arms with Raichu beside me, Victoria was helping Carol clean her wings. Meanwhile, Andy was brushing her Ninetales' fur, cleaning it out a bit. When she was finished, she let Ninetales go back under her bed and she walked over to me with her hands behind her back. I looked up at her, her blond bangs almost covered her eyes completely and her flaming red hair was tied back into a loose ponytail. 

I smiled up at her kindly, as did Raichu. She grinned and sat down beside me and yawned. The previous night, she had stayed up a lot later than usual, later than even Mason. She spent the whole night with Ninetales, reading a book she had found a few days ago, but never bothered to look at. She seemed quite interested in it, and I guessed she read the whole thing that night. She was tired almost the entire day, and she slept in by a few hours because she stayed up so late. 

Finally, I decided to talk. "How was that book you picked up, Andy?" I asked as Eevee swayed its bushy tail back and forth. 

Andy looked to me, a little surprised. I guessed she didn't expect me to ask her about the book—I didn't expect it either. She smiled, "It's actually really good. I like how the author wrote, I really like it." I was surprised again to find that she had the book in her hands. It's front cover was covered with dirt and was all ripped up. I wondered how she was able to read it. "The author is named S. E. Hinton, it says on the back she started writing when she was only 16. I think it's pretty cool."

I nodded, the author's name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't remember it. I looked down at the ripped up book and I was able to make out the title, it said "That Was Then, This is Now". The title wasn't familiar to me at all. I looked back to Andy as she flipped through the pages. "What's it about?" I asked. 

"It's about two friends who are close as brothers. The main character wants to grow up a bit more and is thinking more about his future, while his friend just lives for the thrill of the moment. At the end, the main character finds out something about his friend and ends up destroying their friendship." Andy sighed as she put the book down on my bed. She looked back to me and laid a hand on my shoulder, "You should read it. I know you'll like it." She smiled and got up and walked back to her bed. 

I looked down at the book that laid on my bed. I picked it up and flipped through the pages—no pictures at all, it was a novel. I never liked reading novels much; the only time I ever read them was when my teachers made me. It was then I knew why the name S. E. Hinton sounded familiar to me; I read one of her books the previous year. We had to read it in my English class; it was called "The Outsiders". It was the first book she wrote, which was when she was only 16. It was one of the few novels I ever read that I actually enjoyed. It was about a kid named Ponyboy who was in a gang along with his brothers. When he and his friend, Johnny, end up killing a guy to save their own lives, they run away. When a Church was in flames due to one of their cigarettes, Johnny and Ponyboy ran in to save a bunch of kids. Unfortunately, Johnny broke his back and died. It was a real sad novel, but I loved the way the author wrote. 

I figured since I liked her other book, and Andy liked this one, I would read it as well. I put the book down on the small table beside my bed and began to stroke Eevee's fur again. I sighed as Eevee whimpered and shivered from its fever. I hopped it would recover soon. 

Later on that day, we all gave in and decided to take Eevee to the Pokemon Center. Mason told us that if a pokemon were ill enough, they would let it stay there for the night where they can take care of it till it recovers. From the way Eevee was, we all figured they would allow us to leave Eevee there for the night. I was a lot more comfortable leaving it there than be alone at our home. 

Unfortunately, Mason was unable to take Eevee to the Pokemon Center. He explained that he had some meeting to go to and it was very important. As usual, Andy got suspicious, saying he was planning something behind our backs. Victoria got mad at her for the suggestion, but didn't say very much. We all knew that if we wanted to get Eevee to the Pokemon Center, we would have to go. It was a risk, because there was a chance someone who we used to know could spot us. My main concern was my father or mother being there, because the nearest center from their house and my new home was the same one. 

When Mason left around 6:00pm, we all got ready to go to the Pokemon Center. We would have to walk, and I guessed it would take around half an hour. I was worried; the more time we spent out in the public, the worse. Victoria brought out four black jackets from the closet where all our clothes were kept and handed one to each of us. They all had hoods and we were told to use them so people wouldn't recognize our hair. Unfortunately, since it was almost dark, we couldn't wear the sunglasses Victoria had to cover our faces. 

As we walked down the empty streets on our way to the Pokemon Center, no one said anything. We all remained almost totally silent. I had Eevee in my arms—I didn't feel like putting it into its pokeball. I didn't think it liked it very much from the way it acted after being held in it. Victoria and Andy had their gloved hands stuffed into their pockets, and Carol walked between everyone else. 

I looked down to my side, where Raichu was walking beside me. The other girls didn't bother to bring their pokeballs with them, but I decided if something were to happen, having Raichu around could be helpful. 

Every now and then, we would look behind us, or take quick glances into dark alleys, just incase there was anyone hiding in there, waiting to jump us. I had never been jumped, but I remembered hearing on the news when I was younger about Rukonians being jumped and badly beaten—they got bruised and all cut up. 

After we finally got to the Pokemon Center, it was almost dark. We went straight to the main counter and explained to the Nurse Joy about Eevee's condition. "It's ill," Victoria said, "and we don't know what's wrong. Is it possible for you to watch over it for one night?" She asked. 

Nurse Joy stroked Eevee's fur and smiled, "Yes, yes we can. I would have to hold it here for a while anyways. I'm sure Eevee's just suffering from the season's viruses. In a couple days, Eevee will be fine. I'll take it back now if you don't mind." 

I nodded, "Sure."

She smiled kindly at me and picked up Eevee and carried it through a door into a room with several small beds around. The door shut behind her. I looked to where Andy was standing, only to find her not there. I noticed Victoria and Carol were gone too. I looked around franticly for a few moments, nearly panicking. I got lucky though, they were just getting some candy from a machine on the opposite side of the large lobby. 

I was about to walk over to them, when I noticed a couple enter the lobby with two Seadra's in their arms. The female had pitch-black hair that flowed down to her waist and her beautiful and warm eyes were blue. I recognized her right away—it was my mother! I noticed my dad beside her, with his hand around her waist. His hair was still the same blond color and his eyes were still green. I remembered him talking about dying his hair, but it seemed he hadn't yet. 

I didn't know what I felt when I saw them there. I nearly went ecstatic and ran over to them, but I stopped myself. I nearly forgot about how my father nearly got me killed. Remembering that, I couldn't help but to shudder. Seeing my mom made me want to bawl like a baby, but I held it back. I turned away from them, making sure they didn't see me. Andy, Carol and Victoria were splitting their candy among each other, sitting on a red couch. I decided to join them, and get away from the sight of my parents. 

I walked over to them hurriedly, with Raichu close behind me. I sat down on one of the arms of the couch, beside Andy. She smiled at me as she bit into a Fushion chocolate bar and playfully shoved me off the couch. I nearly fell, but I was expecting it and I didn't. Carol giggled as she popped an M&M into her mouth. Victoria just smiled.

We were there for about ten minutes, going through the chocolate candies like a shark goes through teeth. We were all having a good time, laughing at stupid jokes and making witty remarks about things like the Anti-Rukonian groups. When I started on my third package of Reese Peanut Butter Cups, all the other girls paused and their faces went totally white. I blinked and looked behind me to see my mother there, just looking down at me—I froze.

"Seadra?" My mother said, her voice was shaking. 

I felt like I couldn't move or say anything, but I was shaking. Fortunately, my father wasn't there. I didn't know where he was—I couldn't see him. "Mother?" I asked, "What are you doing here? Where's father?"

She kneeled down beside the couch, with her elbows resting on her knees. "He went to the washroom." She sighed, then looked to me, "What are you doing here? Who are your friends?"

I looked back to Carol, Andy and Victoria. They all looked horribly nervous, and I wondered if talking to my mom was something I shouldn't be doing. "They're Rukonians." I said, I wasn't sure I should've told her that. For the first time, I feared my own mother. "They helped me—I live with them" I went totally silent. My mother didn't reply to me at all, she just looked behind her to make sure my father wasn't around yet. "Why did father do this to me?" I finally asked. 

I could tell I had asked what my mother didn't want me to. She didn't say anything at all to me. She just sighed and got up and walked away, leaving me there. I didn't understand why my parents did this to me. I used to be number one with them, now I felt like trash. 

I watched my mother as she walked over to the door to the men's washroom as my father walked out. His eyes were warm, like they were before he somehow found out I was a Rukonian. I missed those eyes more than I missed my own room. Watching them ended up being a big mistake. He saw me, and recognized me right away. I realized I didn't have my hood on, so my hair and eyes were clearly visible. With his cold and angry eyes back, he began to storm over to us. I began to panic and I looked back to the girls as I felt my face become white as all the blood left it. 

"Get out, now!" I shouted as I picked Raichu up and headed straight for the door. I knew we were in danger. My father was a dangerous person when it came to Rukonians. Too bad I had only found out not long ago when he took me to that Anti-Rukonian group building. The other girls looked at me with strange expressions—obviously they didn't know what was wrong. "It's my father, damn it!" I screamed in fear. 

They remembered what I had told them about him, and they all got up and followed me out the door. They all agreed with me before that he was a monster, he was nuts! We ran down that street as fast as our legs could carry us. 

I could hear my dad screaming in the room "Rukonian!", obviously trying to get attention from other people who had that strange grudge against us. The sound of people shouting and their shoes hitting the concrete behind us was unmistakable. I looked behind us and noticed a crowd of people, lead by my own father, chasing after us. We were dead meat if they caught us; I knew that for sure. 

We all ran down the street as quickly as possible as the crowd got bigger and bigger. More people who were just walking down the road realized the situation and probably figured it would be fun to help them out. My legs felt like elastics, I could move them easily and quickly. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before I started to get cramps in my side. They felt worse than ever before, I was getting scared. 

"Quick, fly!" Victoria ordered. We all nodded and spread out our wings. As usual, it hurt like hell—but I forced myself to ignore the pain and pay attention to the situation instead. We all flapped our wings as hard as we could as I held Raichu in my arms. I had to make sure I was high enough to get away from the mob, as were Carol, Andy and Victoria. Unfortunately, they all had pokeballs with them. To make things worse, my wings were still injured from the Taurus stampede, so staying in the air was alot harder. 

It didn't take long before we had a huge amount of bird pokemon striking us with their wings. They obviously belonged to the people who were trying to kill us. Raichu tried to Thunder Shock them, but it failed. Victoria was able to dodge the birds easily, Andy needed more effort. Meanwhile, Carol looked like she was going to lose control, as was I. I couldn't seem to move fast enough to avoid all the hits my wings and head took.

Suddenly, a huge Pidgeot came out of nowhere and hit us all so hard; we fell straight to the ground. I hit the ground hard, landing on my right arm. I feared I broke it. Our wings all disappeared, hiding beneath the skin in our backs. I struggled to lift myself up, but my arms were weak and the pain was killing me. I looked them over quick, and found blood and dirt all over. My ribs felt like they were broke, and there were scrapes all over my knees from falling onto the concrete. 

I looked at the other girls as they repeated what I had done, checking themselves of their injuries. We were all too weak to do anything. The hit to the concrete did a lot of damage to us. Raichu laid beside me, unconscious—it was hit hard. The mob of Anti-Rukonists had us surrounded. Some were holding chains, broken bottles and even knives. They all had the same twisted grin on their faces. I knew I was in for the beating of my life. 


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter #7

I had one of the people in the crowd pinning me to the ground. I was on my back and he sat on my chest, with his knees holding my arms down. If you don't think that hurts, you're crazy. I couldn't move and my heart rate went straight up when he flipped open a switchblade. All I could think to myself was "I'm in deep shit" No kidding, I was! I could just imagine what I was going to look like when they were through with us. Of course, there was a chance we wouldn't make it out alive.

Carol was backed to the end of a dark alley and a crowd of people blocked her way out. I was more scared for her than myself. Meanwhile, it took three males to hold Andy down, and even then she was putting up a good fight. She threw a few good punches to their faces and guts, knocking them down. She was also able to trip them over with kicks to their legs. Finally, one of the three males got ahold of a chain, which was tossed to him from the huge crowd. He used it against her and finally got her down. Victoria wasn't fighting back at all. She tried to talk to the huge crowd, but they wouldn't listen. Her attempts failed completely, as one of the people with a baseball bat hit her hard in the ribs. I knew a blow like that could break bones, I looked away from her, not wanting to see the tears in her eyes as the crowd began to kick at her while she was down. 

We were all helpless, if someone would try to help us, they would be accused of being Rukonians and would also get beaten. No one wanted to take the chance, so no one spoke up to try to stop the fighting. I could hear Carol trying and pleading to be left alone—her cries nearly brought tears to my own eyes. Meanwhile, Andy went on and on cussing at the males and spitting at them. 

With a grin, the male held the sharp switchblade to my neck. I was shaking in fear, but I forced myself to stop, or I'd shake enough to cut a slit in my neck. His cold gray eyes scared me—more than my father. I didn't know where he was, but I could hear him shouting loudly "Down with Rukonians!" Why did these people hate us so much? Did they even know why? People aren't born with hate, they learn it. By watching their parents' hate and rage, they learn it. Or atleast that was what I thought. 

There wasn't anything for me to do. No matter what I did, I'd end up the same way, so I decided to take chances. Just as the male pressed the sharp switchblade against my neck, I started to cuss at him between gasps and struggle to get him off of me. He moved the blade away, but I got slugged right in the face—not the greatest experience in the world, I'll tell ya that. 

The male slugged me again, "Bitch!" He cursed. 

I turned away, away from his angry glare. My cheek was throbbing in pain from being slugged, and I was literally dying in pain with him holding me down the way he was. It seemed obvious to me he was from one of the gangs that hung around the city. I could tell because of the grease in his black hair, and the cuts on his face and arms. He seemed to know how to restrain a person and to get them real scared. Without a doubt, he was from a gang. 

It all reminded me of the book I had read in school, "The Outsiders"; it was from the author that wrote the book Andy wanted me to read. It had gangs and a lot of fighting in it too. The description was awesome, and you could really imagine being in the same situation as the character describing it. I wondered if the author had ever been in a fight, because most of what she described was right on. Such as being kicked in the head. 

One of the people in the large rioting crowd went nuts and kicked my head straight on. For a moment, I laid there, totally dazed as everything around me began to spin around uncontrollably. I went totally limp and I struggled to keep things from blacking out on me. Fortunately, things went back together after a few seconds, only to hear the two males laughing like lunatics. I could smell the male's breath, it reeked of alcohol—he was drunk. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, was the unmistakable sound of a gun being fired. Everyone paused and looked behind them. I was shocked to see who it was—Mason. He was standing on a Dumpster with a pistol in his hand, aiming it at the sky. There was someone else standing beside him, he also had a pistol in hand. He had short brown hair, parted to the side with a long strand of his bangs infront of his chestnut-brown eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt and baggy jeans. He had a good build; you could see his biceps through his shirt. 

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" Mason shouted out loud as he aimed his pistol at the huge crowd. Everyone panicked and ran for their lives. "NOW!" I was still a bit effected by the kick to my head, so I was hardly able to tell who was shouting and what was happening. 

The male that had me pinned slugged me one more time at the side of my head, causing me to get dizzy again. He grinned and got off of me--which was a huge relief—and ran off, following the huge crowd. I could hear Police sirens in the background. 

I rolled onto my stomach, resting my forehead on my arm, trying to catch my breath. I had the wind knocked straight out of me, and I felt like I was going to pass out. I lifted my head slightly to see Mason and the other male he was with jump off the Dumpster and run over to us. Mason went for Victoria and helped her to get onto her feet, but she held her ribs in pain. They were broke for sure. Meanwhile, the other male ran over to the alley where Carol was cornered. When he walked out a few seconds later, he held her in his arms. She had bruises on her arms and legs and seemed shaken up, but she was fine. 

The male put Carol down and walked over to me to see if I was okay. He put his pistol down beside me and kneeled down so his face was at the same alleviation as mine. "Are you okay? Can you get up?" He asked in a soft tone as she brushed some of the hair out of my face. 

I just laid there, gasping for breath. My hands were shaking and I was scared senseless. Andy told me that it was common for that to happen after being attacked like that. I felt like I was going to burst out and bawl like I baby, but I didn't want to infront of this new guy. I didn't know who he was, and I didn't like the idea of crying infront of a stranger—I'd feel stupid and weak. 

"This one's hurt bad!" He called over to Mason as he tried to help Andy, but she didn't let him help her. That was just typical of Andy—trying to be tougher than she really was. But I knew if he were someone else, Andy would except Mason's help.

Mason looked over to us and ran over. He kneeled down beside me. "Seadra?" He asked as he laid a hand on my back. 

I was shaking bad. My face felt cold, it was the feeling I got whenever my face went white. This only occurred when I was really scared—and I was. I could feel the adrenaline in my body; all that energy was making me shake even more. I hopped it would stop soon. 

My long bangs fell over again, covering my face. It was like having a curtain close around your face. I was a bit relieved of this. "Come on Seadra, get up." Mason said in a soft whisper as he brushed my bangs away and put them behind my ears. I didn't move—I couldn't. My mind was spinning and I felt like I was in the middle of an endless free-fall. I knew I was laying still, but my mind was telling me I was moving. "Please, say something." Mason said as his voice began to break down. Was he worried about me?

"Come on." I heard the other male say. His voice was much softer than Mason's, and a lot more comforting. I tried to get up, but my arms wouldn't move. I felt him grab onto my shoulders gingerly and try to lift me up to my feet. I tried to use my own energy to stand, but I still couldn't move and I nearly collapsed. Fortunately, the male caught me and I landed with my face buried in his chest. I blushed slightly. 

"Chris," Mason started as he walked away, "get Seadra in the car and make sure she's okay. I'll get the other girls." So, Chris was the male's name. It was a very common name, but I liked it. 

I was still barely unable to stand by my own. Chris let me sit down again. I was horribly dizzy; I couldn't keep balance nor keep track of the angle the ground was on. I nearly fell over, but Chris caught me again. Then, with one arm under my knees and one on my back, he lifted me up and carried me over to Mason's beat-up car. It still had the dents in it from when the herd of Taurus attacked us; Mason didn't want to spend the money to get it fixed. He opened one of the backseat doors and put me down on the far side of the soft seat. I leaned my head against the glass of the door. I wasn't dizzy anymore, but I had a pounding headache. It felt like my brain was slamming itself against my skull, trying to break straight through. 

I closed my eyes, and sighed. I was aching all over. I wanted to get back home and lay in my bed with Raichu. Raichu wasn't involved with the big fight; I had called it into its pokeball so it wouldn't get injured. After being hit by a baseball bat when we hit the ground, I had to return it into its pokeball right away. I didn't want to risk Raichu getting badly hurt. I sighed again. 

* * *

I think I either passed out or fell asleep, because when I opened my eyes next, I was lying in my bed with my covers draped over me. I saw Chris and Mason laughing as they played a game a poker on the floor beside my bed. I was able to lift myself up and watch as they played. They were telling each other some strange jokes that I didn't totally understand. 

Chris looked back to me and with a surprised expression, smiled. "Hey! You're awake! How are you?" He asked as he put a card down from his hand.

I ran my hands through my hair, getting my long bangs out of my face and sighed. "I don't know I'm okay I guess" I laid down on my stomach so I was overlooking their game. I didn't know much about how to play poker, I forgot a long time ago when I was young. I used to play it with my mother and father using pennies. Once, I won over two dollars. Not too bad in my opinion. 

Mason smiled over to me, "There's some McChickens left in that McDonald's bag on the main table." He said as he pointed over to the table with chairs around it. "Feel free to take some if you're hungry." 

I nodded, but didn't feel like eating much. I was hungry, but getting up and walking over to the table felt almost like an impossible task. I could hear the TV from the other room and Carol, Andy and Victoria laughing. I wondered if they were okay. "Mason," I started, "how are the girls?" I asked.

"They're fine." Mason replied, "Victoria probably broke a couple ribs, Carol's just got some bruises and Andy's got a few cuts and some bruised ribs." He sighed and went back to his game of poker with Chris. I remembered Andy mentioning Chris once before. She said he was one of his good friends who came to visit every now and then. 

It occurred to me that the other girls were fine, and I was relieved. I also realized that I wasn't as lucky as they were. None of them got kicked in the head, which was worse than being slugged repeatedly. I sighed and grabbed my pillow from beside me and laid my head onto it. I felt very tired and I closed my eyes for a while. I nearly fell asleep, but Andy walked in and slapped my back. 

"I think you've slept enough now." Andy laughed as she sat down beside me and ruffled up my hair. She seemed okay, but she had bandages wrapped around her waist. There were a few bruises on her face and arms, but she seemed okay. Victoria and Carol walked in. Victoria also had bandages around her waist and her nose was bleeding a bit, she was going to be fine. Meanwhile, Carol had a few cuts on her arms and one of her eyes was swollen shut. I felt bad for her, but I didn't say anything.

The rest of the day was pretty boring. I tried to keep awake, but I was always tired and I would often drift off to sleep. Of course, Andy made sure to wake me up. Raichu was fine and I gave its cheeks a good rub to sooth it. I talked to Chris some more, and found out he was only a year older than me, but was a lot taller—atleast by one head. And I thought he was atleast 17 when I first saw him! He was a really nice guy, and he loved to play sports, which explained his good build. He didn't have many pokemon, just a Snorlax and a Pikachu. 

We got along very well. He would say some of the silliest things that just got me laughing in hysterics. I explained to him how I met Mason and the others, and he told me that he lived in an apartment with a couple friends. They would train pokemon, but preferred to go out and make some money—but he didn't tell me what his job was. I thanked Chris and Mason for helping us, as did Carol and Victoria. Unfortunately, Andy didn't. Honestly, I wasn't surprised at all. 

When he left, it was past 1:00am. We all hurried off to our beds and went to sleep. Since I had been tired almost all night, I was able to fall asleep with no problem. As I laid in my bed, I wondered what was going to happen when we got the Orb of Mew. We had decided to delay our plans by one day, since we were all sore from the fight. We figured one day should be enough. Well, atleast I hoped so

* * *

Our injuries were pretty minor, they healed up alot faster than we thought they would've. Good thing, eh?


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter #8

"Hey," Andy said as she shook my shoulder, "wake up." 

I opened my eyes slightly as Andy smiled down at me. At first, I could hardly recognize her; my vision was a bit blurred. It took a few moments before it cleared up. This happened to me a lot when I woke up when I was still tired. She was wearing an over-sized kangaroo sweatshirt and a pair of baggy jeans. She rarely dressed like that. Normally, she would stick with her short, sleeveless, red top that she loved so much. It didn't occur to me how cold it was until Mason walked by and snatched my blankets from on top of me and walked away casually. 

"Mason!" I shrieked as the cold air stung my skin. I was only wearing an oversized T-shirt and shorts. Goosebumps covered my skin and I hugged myself tightly, shivering. "Give that back!" I shouted as he walked out of the room with his arms filled with blankets. 

I could hear Carol giggling from behind me. I looked back to see her sitting on her bed all dressed in her regular clothing—but with a sweatshirt over it all. It appeared much too big, for the sleeves covered her hands and it went down to her knees. "Mason has to clean our blankets." She said, "Some of us got some blood on them from yesterday, so he's taking them out to get cleaned." 

"Oh" I sighed as I got up. Andy was sitting down at the main table. She had a grin on her face while looking at me—probably amused by the way I was waken up that morning. I didn't say anything as I got out some warm clothes and got changed. 

* * *

As the day went by, our home became colder and colder. Carol, Andy, Victoria and I spent almost the whole day in the small TV room, crowded together on the couch with an extra blanket covering our freezing legs. Several TV stations mentioned the fight that took place the previous day. Fortunately, they were unable to get any pictures or video of us. Still, we were in more danger than ever. 

When Mason finally got back, he brought with him a tin can filled with hot chocolate mix. With help from Andy's Ninetales, we were able to boil some water. 

"Mason," I started as I took a sip of hot chocolate from my mug, "why is it so cold in here today?" I asked as I put it down on the small table in the TV room. We were all sharing the small couch to share body heat to keep warm. 

Mason looked over to me; I was sitting beside him. I hadn't realized how short I was compared to him until we were crowded so close to each other. Victoria sat to my right; he was on my left. Beside Victoria, Andy—Carol was sitting in their laps. We were so close, it was a bit uncomfortabe. Mainly because of our injuries. 

He sighed as he drank some coffee Mason had gotten for himself from the nearby McDonald's. "The whole building's heating was cut off" He said as he put his mug down beside my hot chocolate. "It should be back up by tomorrow." He explained. 

I nodded. I wasn't paying much attention to the TV, until I overheard a news reporter mentioning Rukonians. We all stopped talking and paid our attention straight to the TV screen. 

"Earlier today in response to the finding of a group of four Rukonians, civilians gathered at City Hall and declared war against them. People from all the anti-Rukonian groups joined forces to create the Kilinda Clan, lead by Austin Reef and Keith Roloc."

I paused—Austin Reef? My father? Could it be? Was it him who started this clan? My eyes went wide and my face went cold and pale. The others looked at me strangely. 

"Seadra?" Mason asked, "What is it?" 

I spent a few moments not saying or listening to anything. I was shocked—my father was so against Rukonians that he got all the anti-Rukonian groups to team up to create the Kilinda Clan. Andy shook my shoulder, "Seadra?"

I blinked and shook off my strange trance of shock. "Uh Sorry" I sighed as I ran a hand through my long hair. Mason had turned the TV off and was looking at me strangely. I didn't know why, but I didn't ask. All the girls were looking at me with the same expression.

Finally, after a few moments, Victoria broke the silence. "Seadra That man's last name was Reef Is he your father?" She asked as Mason put his arms around me in a comforting way. I didn't know it then, but I was shaking uncontrollably. 

They all seemed so concerned over me, and I didn't totally know why. I guess it was because of when I got kicked in the head the previous day or something. Perhaps they thought I was losing my mind Andy repeated Victoria's question and I nodded. There was another long silence. Finally, I got up and walked out of the room. For the first time—I truly hated my father. 

* * *

Though I was well aware of the dangers, I went outside. I made sure to wear a heavy jacket—it was really cold outside that day, not to mention it was pouring rain. I didn't say anything to the others when I left, and I didn't even bring Raichu with me. I needed time to think to myself. I mainly thought about how my parents used to love me more than anything in the world. I almost cried thinking about how much my father hated me now, and how my mother lied about me. Again, I wondered how my father discovered I was a Rukonian. I tried to think of explanations, but none of them made enough sense to be correct.

A few people looked at me strangely as I walked down the cold city streets. Either they were involved in the fight that took place the previous day and they recognized me, or they thought it was odd to see a 13 year-old girl walking around with her hands stuffed into her pockets and close to tears. Fortunately, there weren't enough anti-Rukonists around to start up a fight. 

I didn't want to go back—I didn't want to see Andy, Carol, Victoria or Mason. They were the only people left that could ever help me, but I didn't want to go back to them. I never felt so lost and confused. I wished I could just vanish and leave this world. I didn't know what to do I just didn't know I didn't even know exactly why I felt the way I did. 

"Seadra!" I heard a call from across the street. I didn't bother to look; I just kept on walking. "Seadra!" The person repeated—but louder. I sighed and stopped walking. My jacket didn't have a hood so my hair was soaked. I could hear the sound of shoes splashing through some puddles on the road, running over to me. I began to hope the person was an anti-Rukonist, or someone from the Kilinda Clan so I could just be killed or something. "What are you doing out here alone?" I recognized the voice when it was beside me—it was Chris, Mason's friend that helped me after the fight. 

I looked back up at Chris. My vision was blurred from the tears that formed in my eyes and my long, soaked bangs blocked most of my view. He just looked at me with a concerned expression. I finally broke out to tears and clung to him tightly, soaking his shirt. He didn't say anything to this; he just hugged me comfortingly and rubbed my back. I didn't bother to fight back the tears—I felt I had to just let them out. 

"What's wrong?" Chris asked as he brushed away my bangs that covered my face. I wiped the tears from my eyes with my hands, and sniffled. I felt horrible, I was soaked from head to toe and I was absolutely freezing—but I wasn't shivering at all. "Seadra?" Chris whispered softly. 

I looked up to Chris' soft eyes and finally replied, "N-nothing."

From the expression Chris gave me, I knew he knew I was lying. But, he shrugged it off and smiles down at me kindly. "Come on," he said, "I'll give you a ride back home, okay?" 

I had finally stopped crying and I felt a bit better knowing Chris was there. I nodded and he led me across the street where his black car was parked. It wasn't the cleanest thing in the world, but the rain would clear off some of the layers of dried mud all over it. I was surprised to find that driving back home took over half an hour—I hadn't realized how long I was gone. Driving is a lot faster than walking, so I figured I was out for more than three hours. I wondered if the others were worried about me at all. 

* * *

When we entered Mason's place, everyone was at the main table. They all looked tense, tapping their fingers on the surface of the table and resting their faces in their palms. When they saw me enter, they all jumped out of their seats and ran over to me. 

Andy jumped over one of the beds and knocked over a chair before reaching me and hugging me tightly. "Seadra!" She cried, she sounded and looked like she was close to a nervous breakdown. She pulled away from the hug and looked me over. My clothes were soaked and my hair was a wreak from drying with rainwater in it. My eyes were reddened from my tears and though I was cold, I still wasn't shivering. "Are you okay?" She asked as she brushed my long bangs from my face. 

I nodded as Chris walked in. Victoria and Carol walked over to me; they had expressions of relief on their faces. Carol hugged me tightly by my waist; it made her seem like a little sister. I smiled and ruffled up her hair with my wet hands, getting some stuck to them. "You're back!" Carol cried as she clung to me tightly, refusing to let go. "Don't run off again! I was scared!" She really did seem like a little sister to me as she continued on. No wonder everyone loved her so much, she was a little baby sister we could all share. 

While Carol and Andy just seemed relieved to see me, Victoria didn't nearly as much. She appeared to be angrier than happy. I was a bit nervous that she was snap at me for making everyone worry, but she didn't. She just gave me a strange look that let me know I was in trouble and then she just walked away to where Mason was in the small TV room. 

I looked over to Andy with a questioning look and she sighed. "Victoria gets mad at us all the time when we walk off without her knowing." Andy said, "Because we see and treat her like a big sister, she acts up to it. She was really worried about you, and she's happy you're back. But of course, she's mad too." I looked down and sighed, I felt guilty for what I did. Andy put a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me warmly, "Don't worry about it so much, Seadra. That just means you've fit in now. Victoria sees you as another sister to watch over. You're one of us. We've all done that same stunt sometime."

Those words suddenly made all the pain that had built up within me vanish and I let out a sigh of relief. I no longer felt awkward there—I now belonged there. I finally felt like I had a family who loved me and a place to live. 

"Rai!" I heard Raichu call out. I looked over to where I heard the call come from, my bed. From under the messed-up sheets out sprung Raichu. It ran over to me with the biggest smile on its face. I extended my arms out as it leapt at me. I hugged it tightly, kissing its cheek. 

Andy laughed, "Raichu was worried too." 

I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, sure seems like it." I ruffled up its fur and poked its tummy, making it giggle like a child. 

I smiled to myself and put Raichu down. I looked back to Chris just as he walked out to get back to his own home. I didn't say anything to him, I decided to leave him alone. I closed the door behind him and sat down on my bed. I closed my eyes and thought about how everything was starting to come back together in my life. I had a family, I had a home—I felt complete. 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter #9

Well, there we were. Andy, Carol, Victoria, Mason and I were all riding Carol's Lapras on our way to the ruins of Rukonia along with our pokemon. Mason had to do a lot of research to find the location of the island, and it wasn't too far from where we lived. I guess that explained why there were so many Rukonians in our area, like Andy, Carol, Victoria and I. Our injuries had healed almost fully, but not completely. But it was enough to allow us to take the trip. 

The sky was clear and the air was soothingly warm. The water was calm and there was only a slight breeze. The weather was absolutely perfect. Though, we didn't have time to think about the weather, we had to plan everything out. 

"Okay," Andy started, "Victoria, Seadra, Carol and I will all go in and look for the Orb of Mew." She turned and looked over to Mason, "Mason, you stay behind."

Mason paused; it was obvious he wanted to see the ruins, not just wait behind everyone else. "Why?" he asked as he rested one of his arms on his knee. 

Victoria replied for Andy, if she hadn't, a fight could've broken out between the two again. "That man that was found here was dead, Mason." She said in a serious tone, "It's too risky for you to enter. My theory is the Orb of Mew protected the Rukonians from intruders, so the other girls and I should be fine." I couldn't have put it in better words than that. 

Mason sighed and nodded. He never spoke up after that until we got to Rukonia. It was a horrible sight—collapsed buildings, broken pots and glass and even bones lying all over the place. You could see it all from a distance, there was so much. The sun's rays shawn down on the ruins, making them appear beautiful in a mysterious way. It made me realize what a wonderful country it used to be. 

When we got to shore, Victoria reminded Mason again to stay there. It was a risk to leave him there all alone, so Victoria made Andy let Mason use her Sandslash incase something were to happen. We all had our pokemon with us, I had Raichu, Carol had Lapras, Victoria had Sunflora and Andy had her Ninetales. We were all set. With expressions of determination, we all stepped forward and made our way through the maze of crumpled buildings in search for the Orb of Mew. Strangely, the ruins looked ancient. Rukonia was destroyed only a few decades ago, but the way everything was built was simular to the way you would expect Greece to look like. 

"Do you think we'll find it?" Carol asked as we looked for a standing building somewhere, but they were all destroyed completely. If we were to find the Orb of Mew, it would take a long time with all the rubble we would have to look through. 

Victoria, who was leading us, looked back to Carol and smiled as a mother would to her daughter, "We will." She said, "Don't worry, we will." Andy and I both knew that we probably wouldn't, Rukonia was too big and everything was totally trashed. Odds were we would never find it. Victoria was just trying to cheer Carol up—but it was the right thing to do. She was only 10 years old after all. 

We searched for several hours. We tried flying over Rukonia with our wings, but we couldn't find anything that way. I let Raichu out of its pokeball so it could help us with our search—Andy and Victoria did the same with their pokemon. Every now and then, I would wonder if Mason was all-right, he was probably bored. 

Finally, while Raichu was digging through the remains of a building, it suddenly stopped and started shouting loudly. "RAI! RAICHU! RAIAI!" It was waving its paws in the air franticly, trying to catch our attention. 

I looked over to my pokemon and ran over to it as it pointed down to where it was digging. Raichu had found an underground tunnel. I poked my head through to look to see what it was. It was a long tunnel with white walls covered with mysterious paintings of strange people with feathers all over. It was filled with clear water that gleamed as the sun's rays reflected onto them for the first time in decades. I quickly got up and called to the other girls to get there, I had a feeling we would find the Orb of Mew by following this underground tunnel. 

"What is it?" Andy asked as she and the others got there. I pointed down to the tunnel and they all looked through, looking at the paintings and the water. Obviously, it was no sewer; it wouldn't be painted so well if it was. And besides, it was so clean; there was no way being a sewer was its purpose. 

Victoria smiled and patted my back, "Great job, Seadra!" 

Carol knew what to do—she brought out Lapras' pokeball and tossed it into the tunnel. There was a bright flash and once it cleared, there was Lapras, splashing around happily in the shallow water. We all worked with the hole Raichu made to make it big enough for us to get through. Once finished that, we jumped through it with our pokemon, landing on Lapras' hard shell. 

We were all very excited. Our senses were telling us this tunnel was going to lead us to the Orb of Mew. Raichu helped to light it all up with its flash, which really helped us. As Lapras swam through, we all gazed at the beautiful paintings all over the walls. There were pictures of strange people who appeared to be half pokemon. There were also ones of men dressed with armor and holding swords in their hands. The most interesting one we came across was one that portrayed a young girl with short dark blue hair wearing what appeared to be a school uniform. It was so odd, because these paintings appeared to be hundreds or even thousands of years old. Why would a girl in a modern Japanese school uniform be there? 

"Look!" Carol shouted excitedly as she pointed out to a bright light out in the distance. I looked over and was shocked to see what appeared to be some sort of chamber, ending the tunnel with a bright object lighting it up. I knew what it was—it was the Orb of Mew. 

Andy sighed and looked away, holding her Ninetales in her arms, "I still don't know why we're risking our lives like this for Mason" She muttered beneath her breath. 

Victoria looked back to Andy with an irritated look and thwaped her at the back of her head; "Oh shut up for god's sake!" She snapped. Everyone paused, including my Raichu, Victoria never snapped like that before. Carol cowered away from the two, obviously she was scared of them now. I rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her, but it did very little. 

When we got to the chamber, we hopped off Carol's Lapras but didn't bother to return it into its pokeball. Raichu stayed close to me as we approached the bright light. Andy's Ninetales stood infront of her and growled at it in a protective way. Meanwhile, Victoria's Sunflora just stood beside her, swaying its leaves around without a care in the world. Carol was too scared to do anything; she stayed with Lapras where she had a sense of security with her pokemon. 

"What do we do now?" I asked as we all just stared at it. None of us were even moving we were so unsure of what to do. I began to wonder if coming there was a mistake, I felt like turning back and running like a coward. The orb was shinning brightly, so my Raichu didn't need to use its flash. It was as bright as the sun, hurting our eyes if we looked at it for too long. 

Victoria didn't need to reply to my question. She took a step forward to the Orb of Mew and extended a shaking hand to it. Just as she was about to touch it, it began to glow brighter and in multiple colors. Suddenly, strange rays of light were unleashed from it; they looked like silk ribbons flying around franticly. Carol screamed in horror and the rest of us were too scared to move. The strange rays then came straight at us and laid against our foreheads. 

I couldn't see the Orb of Mew anymore. All I saw now was what appeared to be Rukonia, but it wasn't destroyed at all. It was beautiful, the sun was shinning brightly, there were a few clouds hanging in the sky and there were people walking down the streets casually. Was I having a vision or something? I couldn't hear the other girls anymore; I couldn't even see them.

It then occurred to be that I wasn't standing on solid ground, I was floating in mid air without my wings. All the Rukonians below me didn't notice me at all. I was horribly confused with what was going on. Then, all my questions of the origins of Rukonia were answered. I was having a vision, a vision brought to me by the Orb of Mew. 

I saw visions of Rukonians being attacked by men in armor, riding huge Pidgeot and Charizard. The people couldn't protect themselves and didn't want to fight—so many were killed. I saw them turn to the Orb of Mew to ask for protection, and it granted them by giving them wings and the abilities of their pokemon. I saw them protect themselves, and feel powerful by defeating their enemies. They became mad with their power and they destroyed the legendary Pokemopholis. People stopped attacking them, the Rukonians were the ones who were attacking now. A strange being came to the Rukonians and took away their powers, but they kept their wings. The wings were left on them so people would know who they are and know to hate them forever for their horrible crimes

Just was suddenly as these strange visions came to me, they stopped and I found myself back in the chamber with the other girls. "What was that?" I asked. 

Victoria looked to me; "You saw it too? The reason for the hatred of Rukonians?" Her hands were shaking, and so were mine. In the visions the Orb of Mew showed us, we saw people being killed and hunted down like we were, it was horrible. 

Andy fell to her knees and held her head with her hands. I had never seen her like that; the whole thing really shook her up. Meanwhile, Carol was still staring at the Orb of Mew as it became brighter and brighter each second. 

Suddenly, a huge flash of light came from the Orb of Mew. It caused a horrible pain in my chest and I held it in agony, screaming. I could hear the others screaming in pain as well. What was happening? I could hear Raichu wailing and the other pokemon crying out. We were all being hurt horribly by the Orb of Mew. I began to wonder if this was how the man who was found dead died. I wondered what my funeral was going to be like—I was that scared. 

Though I was in a lot of pain, I forced my eyes to open and I saw a yellow light come from Raichu's chest. Once it was extracted, Raichu fell to the ground, panting heavily as the pain ceased. Suddenly, that light that came from my pokemon stuck me. I felt like I was being attacked by a thousand Raichus all using thunderbolt at once. I blacked out after that, hearing Andy, Victoria and Carol screaming in pain as I saw similar lights strike them as well. The light that hit Andy was red, Victoria's was green and Carol's was blue. 

* * *

"Seadra?" I heard a voice, but I couldn't make out who it was. "Seadra?" The voice repeated itself, shaking my shoulder slightly. I groaned, but didn't say anything. I couldn't open my eyes to see who it was; I was sore all over. I attempted to move, only to be electrocuted for some reason. 

"Don't move." I heard another voice say as I felt gloves being placed over my hands. 

I couldn't tell who was talking to me, but I guessed it was Andy. "Andy?" I said in a husky voice. I could hardly talk and I still couldn't open my eyes. 

"Yeah," she said, "It's me. Feeling okay?" Andy asked as she helped me prop myself up. I realized I was back home, I recognized the smell and my bed. I was relievedd to be back there. More than you could imagine. I was scared senseless back in Rukonia. 

Finally, I was able to open my eyes. Though I was hurting bad, I couldn't find any wounds on me. I was wearing some strange blue gloves that felt very awkward on my skin. They were like rubber, but I knew they weren't. "I'm okay I guess" I sighed, "What's with the gloves?" I asked as I attempted to take them off. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity shot from my hand and struck a glass of water on the main table, shattering it into little pieces. I jumped and totally freaked out to this. 

Andy began to shout at me loudly, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. She quickly put the gloves back on. I was shocked, did I really just do that?! "Seadra!" Andy shouted angrily, "Don't take those gloves off!" I gave her a confused expression. "The Orb of Mew gave us the abilities of our pokemon, like it did to the Rukonians of the ancient Rukonia." She sighed. I noticed she was wearing gloves as well. She took one off and picked up an ice cube on the floor from the glass I shattered. Once her fingers touched it, it melted and what was left of it began to boil. "I can control fire." She said in a dead tone. 

So, because she had her Ninetales with her, Andy got fire abilities. I had Raichu, so I use electricity. I wondered what happened to the others. Of course, I didn't need to ask. Carol walked in wearing long gloves on her hands. She cupped her hands together, and in an instant, there was a small block of ice. When I saw Victoria, she wasn't wearing gloves. I found out later that day that she could control the movements of plants around her, but she didn't have to wear gloves. I had to wear them to prevent shocking others; Andy wore hers so she wouldn't set the place on fire and Carol had to or else she could unintentionally turn something into ice.

"So, you're awake, have a nice six-hour sleep?" Mason asked. I looked behind me and saw him walk in from the TV room. I figured it was him who was talking to me first when I came through. "We didn't get the Orb of Mew" He sighed as he sat down at the main table, "We're not going there again, you four nearly got killed. You were all half dead when I found you." Hearing that sent a shiver down my spine. "Oh yeah, thanks for electrocuting me a million times when you were out, Seadra." He grinned as he grabbed an apple from a bowl on the table and took a bite into it. 

Through the day, the girls and I explained everything about Rukonia and why people hate Rukonians so much. Mason seemed quite interested with it all, but sometimes he attention would trail off, annoying us all. We also worked on controlling our new abilities. I found out the gloves Mason bought for us prevented us from unintentionally using our powers whenever we touched things, but allowed us to use them when we did want to. Of course, it would take time to learn to use them. 

My life took another strange turn. 


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter #10

Weeks passed since Andy, Carol, Victoria and I had visited Rukonia and obtained our amazing powers from our pokemon and the Orb of Mew. We explained to Mason the visions the Orb of Mew showed us before we were given our powers. We explained everything—from when the Rukonians were unable to defend themselves to when a war broke out against them. He seemed interested with the whole story, but he was skeptical it was true. It made sense to me though; it made the hatred towards Rukonians piece together perfectly. Of course, we had no proof the war ever did take place. 

We all (except Victoria) had to wear our gloves around the clock. Taking them off was a major risk—one we did not want to take. Andy had accidentally lit things on fire more than once, Carol would often turn things into solid ice and I would make any water extremely dangerous with my electric abilities. Over a period of time, we learnt how to control our powers with our gloves on, but not with them off. We were able to use our powers with them on, but only if we wanted to. Andy and Carol had to make their gloves cover their hands completely, but mine didn't cover my fingers and some of the back of my hands. This was because I was unable to use any electric powers without them, which would cause me to shock myself without warning. 

Our pokemon recovered from their experience with the Orb of Mew rather quickly, while the rest of us felt weak for a couple days. My Eevee was still at the pokemon center; it had been there for several weeks. I was worried about it—I feared they would've sent it to a pound because I hadn't picked it up yet. When I asked Mason if he could retrieve it, he said no. 

"Everyone knows your Eevee belongs to a Rukonian now after that incident when you dropped it off there." Mason said in a harsh voice, "Anyone who went to pick it up would be captured and forced to tell where you all are. I'm not taking that chance, Seadra." With that, he went back to watching some Talk Show about teenage girls dating 40 year-old men. 

I sighed and left the small TV room where the other girls were playing Monopoly. Mason had tons of board and card games for us to play, mainly because there was very little for us to do around his place. By now, we had played each of the games a million times. Mason was having problems getting money so we couldn't get anymore games. Recently, Mason was making less and less money, and I didn't even know how he made money in the first place. Because of our shortage of money, we ended up eating nothing but McChickens from McDonalds because they were the best deal. We ended up having to share 2Ls of Pepsi each day, mainly because it was cheaper than even getting water. I was getting worried about it all; we even stopped going to the lake because Mason couldn't afford gas. 

"Hey, Seadra," Carol smiled up at me as she rolled her two dice. She was using her little Pokemon toys to play the game instead of the metal pieces that came with the Monopoly game. She was using a small Pikachu, one very similar to her plush, which she held tightly in her arms. 

I smiled back down at her the way a sister would smile at her sibling. We were all very close, and I felt like they were all my sisters and Mason was my brother. It was a nice feeling, but Andy had a bad habit of ruining it by getting into arguments with Victoria and Mason. I kneeled down beside her as she moved her Pikachu figure by five spots, landing on Free Parking and getting $435. 

"Mason said he won't get Eevee" I sighed as I looked over to Victoria. 

Andy looked to me and shrugged, "I saw it coming. For once, I'm going to agree with him. I don't want anyone to find us." She said as Carol handed her two dice. 

"I know" I sighed as I fiddled with the little red hotels and blue houses that were scattered along the floor. "I really miss Eevee though It was a birthday present"

Victoria laid one of her bare hands onto my shoulder and smiled in a motherly way to me, "Don't worry so much about it. Eevee will be taken care of someone who won't have to worry about the Kilinda Clan." She said as Andy began to shake her hands, getting ready to roll her dice. "Eevee is better off this way, Seadra." 

Those comforting words really helped me. I knew Victoria was right—Eevee was safer this way. I looked over to Andy as she finally rolled her dice. She got two sixes, making her move twelve spaces. She landed on "Go To Jail". 

* * *

Later that day, Chris came by to visit us. Mason had invited him over to talk to him about our money problems. He explained to him that sooner or later, he wouldn't be able to keep his place and we would be out in the streets as open targets for the Kilinda Clan. 

"Oh man," Chris sighed as he ran one of his hands through his brown hair while holding a bottle of beer in the other, "You're in real trouble there, buddy." He said to Mason, who was resting his head on the wall. It was obvious he wasn't pleased with his money problems at all. 

"I'm in deep shit," Mason corrected his friend as he looked over to him, leaning his arm against the wall casually and drinking down some of his beer. "If I don't get money quick, I'm gonna lose my place. It's either that, or I give up on the girls." He sighed.

I paused—was he serious?! Was he going to get rid of Andy, Carol, Victoria and I because he couldn't afford to take care of us?! I looked back to Andy as she growled from the back of her throat. It was clear she wasn't pleased with this at all. Meanwhile, Victoria talked to Carol calmly, explaining that things will be all right and Mason would manage to deal with everything easily. 

Chris looked down at his shoes and seemed to be thinking hard. "Well, I did get that new job I wanted, maybe I can lend you some money" He pondered as he scratched the back of his neck. He seemed to be stressed. 

Mason looked to Chris; "I couldn't do that You've got your own problems paying your own bills. I've got to deal with this on my own." He said as he walked away to one of the dirty windows and peered through the cloudy glass. It was dark out, and the clouds covered the moon and stars. The only light was that from the buildings surrounding and the lonely streetlights. He sighed and put his beer bottle down on a small counter. 

I got up from my bed and walked over to Chris, "Couldn't Mason just get a new job?" I asked. Chris gave me a look of disbelief and shook his head and pushed me away. I didn't understand why he did that, or what was wrong with Chris getting a new job. Not much made sense to me. I sighed and went into the small TV room where I could see if anything good was on. 

I didn't bother to listen to the others as they tried to figure out a way Mason could get some money. As I flipped through the different stations, I couldn't find anything that caught my attention. After going through each station more than five times each, something caught my attention. I stopped at the channel, it was the news.

"Today the Kilinda Clan uncovered over twenty Rukonians in Kanto and Johto, making a total of over 200 captured since the formation of the Anti-Rukonian group a few weeks ago." Said the news reporter as clips of Rukonians with their wings out with the Kilinda Clan dragging them to their headquarters was shown. "They say they will not rest until all Rukonians have been captured, and they are offering $200 for each Rukonian brought in."

That was enough, Seadra turned the TV off right away. It used to be very rare to find a single Rukonian in a long period of time, now dozens were being captured every month. The other girls and Mason knew about it, but they all refused to talk about it. 

I got up and walked out of the room. Mason and Chris were still talking while drinking from their bottles of beer. Meanwhile, the girls kept themselves busy with a deck of cards. They seemed to be playing Crazy Eight's. It seemed Carol was winning, while Victoria was having troubles with her cards. I kneeled down to the girls and watched as they played. I didn't mention the news I just saw, they probably didn't want to hear about it.

A few more hours passed, we were playing Chinese Checkers while Chris was getting ready to leave. "I'll see you girls later," Chris said before walking out the door. 

I looked back to him and waved, "See ya, Chris!" I called as he walked out and closed the door behind him. I knew it was late and we would have to go to bed then. So, without being told, I got up and went over to my bed where Raichu had been sleeping for the past few hours. 

Victoria put away all the board games we were playing and our deck of cards. Meanwhile, Mason went into the TV room to watch some TV. Andy was tired and fell asleep the minute she fell onto her bed where her Ninetales was hiding under it. 

I looked over to Carol as she crawled into her bed with her Pikachu plush in her arms. Before laying down, she suddenly paused. Her eyes went wide and she began to shake, staring up at the ceiling in a strange kind of trance. Victoria noticed it as well and we ran to Carol's side. Victoria held her shoulders firmly as she continued to shake. 

"Carol?" Victoria had a concerned tone in her voice, "What's wrong?" She asked as she restrained herself from panicking from the strange trance Carol seemed to be trapped in. Suddenly, Carol stopped shaking, but her eyes were still wide and staring up at the ceiling. I was really beginning to worry about her—I didn't know what was going on. 

Suddenly, Carol screamed loud enough for the whole country to hear. She held her head with her hands and laid on her side on her bed. Victoria looked down at her, totally stunned. Andy woke up to Carol's scream and ran over as quickly as she could. Mason also had heard it and in a split second, was at her side. 

Carol was still shaking and was making a little whimpering noise. No one said anything as Victoria helped her get onto her lap, holding her like a mother would hold her child. Mason stayed quiet and kept his distance, knowing Carol was more comfortable with Victoria than anyone else. 

Finally, Carol broke free of her mysterious trance, but she was still shaking. "I I" She started, even her voice was shaking, "Victoria?" She looked up to Victoria for a moment, then hugged her tightly and broke into tears. It was almost as if Carol hadn't seen Victoria in ages with the way she was acting. 

Victoria held Carol in her arms comfortingly and rocked her back and forth gingerly. "What is it? What's wrong?" She asked soothingly as she ran her hands through Carol's purple hair. 

There was a silence that lasted a few moments. Andy, Mason and I stayed close but far enough from the two to make Carol feel comfortable. Of course, she was more at home with Victoria than anyone of us. "I I saw it" Carol finally choked out as she continued to cry onto Victoria's shoulders, soaking her turtleneck shirt. 

Victoria blinked, "Saw what?" She asked, bewildered by Carol's behavior. She didn't seem to care at all that Carol was soaking her shirt. 

There was another uneasy silence. Then finally, Carol spoke up, " Your death"


	12. Chapter 11

Author's Note/Warning: This is an extreamly violent chapter of "Wings of Hope" and should not be read by anyone who can't stomach it. But then again, this is a very important chapter in the series and if you don't read it, you're screwed for the rest of the story. I'm sorry it ended up being this violent, but it really could've have been avoided. For an idea on how violent this really is, I'm rating it R. Seriously. 

* * *

Chapter #11

Carol never told us anything else about her vision. But it seemed that she had somehow obtained not only her Lapras' ice attacks, but its psychic abilities as well. We concluded this when she started to finish our sentences for us exactly, know what others were thinking and be able to see quick flashes of future occurrences. 

Most of the time, Carol only read someone's mind in a playful way, or if she was caught in another trance. Her trances would tell her exactly what was happening, what people where thinking and what was going to happen in the future. These trances came to her randomly and she had no control over them. Meanwhile, she had control of using her psychic abilities otherwise. Carol had promised Andy, Victoria, Mason and I that she would never deliberately read our minds when not asked or given permission to. She was well aware it was something very rude and she didn't want to take the risk of seeing anything bad—like the day my father turned on me and Andy's past. Even after so long, Andy still wouldn't tell us anything from her past. So, we stopped asking. 

"Seadra," Carol started, "what do you think Mason is going to do about his money troubles?" she asked as she made a cute little necklace out of a bead set Victoria had gotten her for her birthday present. She was now 11 years old; her birthday was only a couple days ago. Mason was still having troubles with his money, but he was making a slight comeback.

I looked over to Carol; I was sitting on my bed with Raichu curled up into a small ball on my lap. I was brushing its fur coat to keep it clean. "I don't know," I replied as I put the brush down beside my bed. "But don't worry, he'll figure everything out." I smiled kindly to her as my Raichu perked its little ears.

A cute little smile formed on Carol's baby-face and she nodded.

I was a bit bored and I decided playing a game would be fun, "Hey, Carol," I started, "want to play Go Fish?" I asked. It was the only card game Carol knew how to play well, the others were still a bit too hard for her. 

She shook her head, "No. Remember I'm a psychic?" She grinned as she put her beads down. I laughed, I completely forgot about it. She always liked to win games, but without even trying, she would end up knowing exactly what cards were in your hand, so she would always win. 

I sighed and nodded as my Raichu rolled onto its back, begging for its stomach to be rubbed. "Sorry, I forgot." I said as I rubbed my pokemon's white belly. "Slipped my mind." I added as Raichu began to sway its powerful tail back and forth. It always did that when it was relaxed. 

"Seadra," Carol started as she sat down beside me holding a small beaded bracelet in her hands, "here, this is for you." She smiled as she handed me the bracelet. The beads were different shades of blue with white splotches on them. The string she used was elastic so it fit around my wrist easily.

I looked at my wrist with the blue and white bracelet on it and smiled. I liked it a lot, and I thought it was very sweet of Carol to make it for me. I gave her a sisterly hug and thanked for the gift. 

We spent the rest of the day making more bracelets and a few necklaces while talking about our lives before we met Mason. She explained to me that she and her father were very close, mainly because she never knew her mother, who died when she was born. She was only 7 years old when somehow, someone found out her father was a Rukonian and he was sent to one of the Anti-Rukonian groups. She was able to escape, but she lost her father. I explained to her about how my parents loved me more than anything, until my father found out what I was. I told Carol about my mother's lie about me being adopted as well. Carol listened carefully as I explained it all. It was then Carol mentioned to me that none of us knew how people found out we were Rukonians. That note made me wonder exactly why that was so, 

I didn't make very many bracelets and necklaces, since it was Carol's bead set. For Andy, we made a necklace with red, orange and yellow beads. Some of them were clear while the others had fire-like designs on them. We both agreed they suited her hot personality. Our favorite one ended up being the one we made for Victoria. It had wooden beads with leaves painted on them along with a few other colors. It was very pretty and had the same style Victoria used for her clothing—mature and nature-like. Carol gave Andy her bracelet that day, but held onto the one for Victoria for later use. 

* * *

Weeks had passed since Carol's 11th birthday and Mason was running out of money fast. I didn't know how much he had or how much he needed, which made me feel uneasy. He struggled to get every cent and Chris helped to provide some money. He moved in with us so our money would be shared.

I always wore the blue and white bracelet Carol made for me, as did Andy with her necklace. Carol held onto the necklace she made for Victoria, she wanted to save it for something special. To her, Victoria was like the sister she never had, making her very close to her. 

I was completely losing track of time, I hadn't realized I had been with them for almost a year. My own birthday was coming up and Andy's would be in a couple months. 

Mason was becoming more distant than ever. He rarely ever talked to us, even Chris. Andy spent most of her time watching TV while Carol and Victoria were learning more and more how to control their powers. Victoria's abilities to control plants allowed her to become more with one with nature—something she treasured. Chris and I spent a lot of our time playing different games like Checkers and King's Corner. It gave us something to do and allowed us to get to know each other better. 

Mason spent most of his time out working. Chris had two jobs, but I didn't know what they were. I found it somewhat strange that they wouldn't tell me how they made money, but I never bothered them about it. 

"Shit!" Mason cursed as he threw a few opened envelopes and papers onto the floor and slammed a fist onto the table. I spun around from my bed and looked over to him. 

"What's wrong?" Chris asked as she walked into the room from the TV room. He was watching some anime with Carol, while I was playing cards with Victoria and Andy. "Mason?" Chris asked as he approached his friend. 

Mason sat down on a chair and laid his forehead against his arms. He sighed as he looked back to the papers and envelopes on the floor. I knew they were our bills, and they were the reason he blew his fit. "Chris," Mason started, "I'm going broke I'm gonna lose everything" He choked, he sounded like he was holding back some tears of frustration. 

Chris rubbed Mason's back in an attempt to comfort him. "Hey, Mason, chill out, will ya? Don't worry about this, we'll figure everything out." Mason only sighed again. 

* * *

Later on that night, Mason and Chris went out, but never said where. All Mason said was he and Chris had to talk some things over. Andy made a joke about them dealing drugs to get money, in response; Victoria smacked her back with one of her powerful wings. 

I yawned as I used my electric abilities on a glass of water. For fun, I gave it to Raichu as a drink. Of course, it got a good shock. It was funny, all the girls laughed. But Raichu wasn't so pleased with it. We were all bored and there was nothing to do, so I finally decided to start reading the book Andy gave me. It was titled "That Was Then, This is Now". I read less than half of it, but it was really good. I made sure to finish the book by the end of the week. 

The two were gone for several hours and Victoria was beginning to worry. It was past 2am and Carol was in bed. Meanwhile, Andy, Victoria and I stayed up and waited for Mason to get back. I was about to go to bed when the door finally opened. I looked over to it as did Andy and Victoria. 

"Mason!" Victoria shouted in anger and relief, "Where have you been?" She demanded in a whisper, she didn't want to wake Carol up. She was curled up in her bed with her little Pikachu doll, holding it close to herself. 

Mason looked totally run-down. His gray sweatshirt was covered with dirt and some dried blood. I knew Victoria wasn't going to bother asking him about it. His jeans were all torn up, I guessed he got into a fight of some sort. He sighed and brushed his messy hair out of his golden eyes, "Get Carol up and let's go." He said. 

I blinked—not understanding what was going on. I looked over to Andy as she went over to Carol's bed and gently shook her shoulder to wake her up. "Carol," she whispered as she lifted her covers off her, "get up and get changed, come on." 

"Wha?" Carol murmured as she lifted herself up and Andy handed her some clothes to replace her pajamas. "What's going on?" She asked as she took the clothes Andy offereed her. Obviously she was confused. I was too, and I had a good feeling Andy and Victoria felt the same way. Mason wasn't explaining anything and wasn't telling us why he looked so run-down. 

Mason replied, "Get changed, Carol." He said as he entered the room and began to stuff some of our stuff into a sports bag. He mainly packed our clothes, but also things like books, Carol's bead set, pictures, etc. He seemed to be in some sort of hurry, but I didn't know why. Carol got changed quickly on her bed and got up as the rest of us helped Mason pack up some of our things. 

"Mason," I started, "what's going on? Where are we going?" I asked finally. None of the other girls were asking and I was really confused. 

He looked over to me; there was an uneasy tenseness in his eyes. "I've got to get you guys out of here, they found us." He said quickly as he got us to run out the door. "The Kilinda Clan They know you guys are here Get out!" He quickly grabbed all our pokeballs and handed them to us hurriedly. We put them into the bag where they would be safe. 

The Kilinda Clan had found us?! How?! I was shocked that they knew where we were—now we had to flee. I was scared and by the expressions on the other girls' faces, I knew they were too. Carol had her Pikachu plush held firmly in her arms and Victoria did her best to keep her calm. 

We all ran down the dark halls of the building, once we got through the door, we were shocked to find a huge mob of angry people—it was the Kilinda Clan. I couldn't see my father anywhere, which was a relief. The Kilindas all held weapons in their hands. Some had chains, bottles, brass knuckles and even guns. The glares of hatred and anger in the eyes sent chills down my spine. 

We all stood there for several moments—then the people all charged at us. In a panic, Andy, Victoria, Carol and I all spread out our wings in an attempt to fly away from them. It hardly hurt at all, probably because we were all so scared. Unfortunately, before we had the chance to get high enough into the air, the people had grabbed our feet and pulled us down onto the ground. One guy gripped onto my foot tightly and just yanked me down onto the hard concrete. It hurt like hell and I screamed out in pain as I felt a bone in one of my wings snap. 

Once down, the angry anti-Rukonists began to stomp on our wings, which was just as painful as the kicks I got to my gut, which caused me to cough up blood. I could hear Andy, Carol and Victoria all screaming in terror as we were being brutally attacked. It was even worse than the incident that took place when we took Eevee to the pokemon center. Suddenly, I felt something cold run down my side. I didn't know what it was, but it hardly hurt, so I didn't think much of it. 

I couldn't fight back, so I began to use my electric abilities to electrocute them. None of them expected this, so most of them ran away, scarred senseless. The other girls did the same thing—Carol froze one guy into a block of ice and Andy got a guy running around screaming as his shirt was in flames. Unfortunately though, Victoria didn't fight back. I didn't understand why, she just didn't. Fortunately though, our attacks got the crowd to back away slightly and form a circle around us. 

I struggled to lift myself up as even more people began to crowd around us. We were surrounded by the Kilindas. I looked around, but I couldn't see Mason anywhere. I was scared he has hurt or was chased off. Our bag was lying between us and we were just waiting for our enemies to attack. Our wings were crippled, the feathers were all over the dark concrete we stood on and were stained with red blood. Andy had a broken bone sticking out through her wing; it was a horrible sight that made me want to vomit. Our once beautiful white wings were so badly injured; we couldn't even pull them back into our backs. I took the time to look down at myself--my clothes were stained with my own blood and there were several cuts along my arms and legs. It was then I was finally able to feel a pain in my side. I looked down to see the most gruesome thing I had ever seen. A huge, deep cut in my side, from my waist up to my ribs. I could see my own flesh and the white gleam of my ribs. I was bleeding heavily and it didn't seem to want to stop. I remembered being told once that when you get a deep cut from a knife, you can't feel it until a few moments later. I guessed when my wings were being stomped on, the Kilindas I wasn't paying attention to were using their knives. I was really scared and spat out more blood. 

Then, a few of the Kilindas moved aside and let someone walk through—it was Mason! He had a grin on his face, one that scared me. "You Rukonians are so gullible!" He laughed as he held a pistol in one of his hands. "Did you really think I wanted to HELP you? Ha! You failed to get me the Orb of Mew and now you're responsible for me losing all my money" He said as his voice became taunting. He was using us the entire time He only wanted us so we could get him the Orb of Mew. Now that we didn't and he was running short of money, he was handing us over to the Kilinda Clan! He then looked at me with the most unforgiving glare, "Oh, Seadra," he grinned, "about your father It's too bad I had to tell him the news about you, eh? You could've been living peacefully at home if it weren't for me ya know"

I paused—it was him who told my father how I was a Rukonian?! It was HIM?! I growled from the back of my throat, and at the same time, held back tears. I felt like I was going to bawl like a baby. Andy walked over to me and hugged me close to her for comfort. I was beginning to get really dizzy from blood loss and shock. I knew the two never made a good combo. 

Meanwhile, Mason laughed, "You all could've been happy if it weren't for me Such foolish people you are" He then looked back to the large group and nodded. With that, they all charged at us. We were all too emotionally hurt from what Mason had told us and too physically weak to even fight back as they tied our hands behind our backs and dragged us down the cold city streets to their headquarters. 

I didn't have any strength left in me. I was hurting all over and I couldn't forgive myself for ever trusting Mason. I knew the other girls felt the same way. I was also filled with rage—not only had Mason destroyed my life, but Victoria, Andy and Carol's as well. Poor Carol, she was so young and innocent It was because of Mason her father was taken away from her 

My eyes were filled with hot tears and they all crawled down my cheeks slowly. I closed them tightly as one of the Kilindas kicked me to show the people who were looking out their windows his status over me. They just wouldn't stop hurting us as they marched down the streets. Some people even threw stuff at us from their windows. The deep cut on my side wouldn't stop bleeding and I was losing blood fast. I could faintly hear Andy screaming for someone to help me along with the other girls. I couldn't even see my own wound now, so there was no way of me knowing exactly how serious it was. 

Andy, Carol and I would've used our pokemon-abilities to fight off the Kilindas, but we were too weak. We had learned before that the only one of us who didn't need strength and energy to use our powers was Victoria. I prayed to myself that she would do something to fight off our enemy. I could hear Carol crying in pain—both emotional and physical. Andy was still cussing at the Kilindas beneath her breath. I finally built up enough strength to look over to Victoria. I gave her a look that asked her to help us. She knew what I wanted her to do and she knew it was our only chance to get out of there. Before she could respond, Carol let out a loud scream. She closed her eyes tightly and trashed her head from side to side. I knew what was happening—she was having another one of her vision. 

"Shut up!" Mason shouted at Carol. I couldn't believe he had just said that. He always treated Carol the kindest of us all because he always seemed to like her. Now, he was treating her like you would treat dirt. He then aimed the gun he held in his hand straight at her. I choked. 

"No!" I heard Andy scream, "Don't!" 

I could hear the pistol make a click—it was ready to be fired any second now. Carol was still thrashing around, screaming loudly. She had no idea what was happening; she couldn't see it, for she was lost in a vision. I felt helpless. 

But then, from the corner of my eye I saw Victoria use her ability to control plants to pull off the Kilindas who had her tied up. The branches of nearby trees extended out and grabbed onto the men, pulling them away from her. She also got razor-sharp leaves to strike them. Suddenly, Mason fired. "Stop!" Victoria screamed as she finally broke lose and made a leap towards Carol, knocking her down and blocking her from the gun shot. Mason missed Carol But he got Victoria instead right in the chest. 

Everyone froze and even Carol stopped screaming. She was lying on her back with Victoria on top of her. She finally snapped out of her psychic trance, "Victoria?" She asked, "You can get off me." It was clear Carol had no idea what had just happened. When in her visionary trances, she can't tell what's going on around her at all. I held my breath, knowing what was coming up. Carol crawled out from under Victoria and looked down at her. She gasped at what she saw. There was a neat little hole right in Victoria's chest. The white material of her shirt was stained with blood and she wasn't moving, nor breathing. Victoria was dead. 

There was a dead silence for a few moments, not even the Kilindas said anything. Carol was shaking and her eyes were filled with tears. "Victoria..." She choked, "No..." There was another silence, then she suddenly screamed out in agony. "VICTORIA!" She was Carol's big sister she never had, she made her feel wanted and important. She was the only one Carol truly felt comfortable with. Now, she was gone. And it was all because of Mason. Andy and I held back our tears as Carol clung onto Victoria's limp body and soaked her shirt with her tears. She continued to scream every now and then.

It was then I became extreamly dizzy. I looked down at the huge, deep cut on my side to find it was still bleeding. I could see some of the Kilindas had backed down after seeing Victoria's death and Carol's response to it. Some looked sick and were even vomiting. You would think their views of the clan had suddenly changed. I began to feel weaker than ever and I couldn't even think straight. I was losing alot of blood and I knew it. Finally, everything went black.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter #12

I felt my head clearing of the fog that clouded it. I felt like I couldn't move—I had no strength in me at all. I let out a short groan as I felt a wet cloth being laid on my forehead. I opened my eyes slightly to see a blurred figure looking down at me. "Seadra?" I couldn't make out who it was. I felt weak and I closed my eyes again. I was tired. I couldn't remember anything.

* * *

The next time I woke up that I could remember, I felt the same way as before. Tired and weak. I felt like I had a rock on my chest and it was very uncomfortable as you could imagine. I didn't feel like I could talk, so once again, I let out a short groan to get some attention. I didn't even know if anyone was there. I couldn't see anyone around me, and even if someone was there, my vision was too blurred to make them out. The air felt cold and damp, like a forest in the morning. Except for one big difference--it wasn't fresh, the air had a horrible stench. 

"Why is it you're always the last one to wake up, Seadra?" I heard a muffled voice laugh from my right. I closed my eyes for a moment then opened them. My vision was slowly starting to clear up. I could see someone sitting down on a wooden bench across the dark, concrete room I found myself. I was lying down, but I didn't know where.

I groaned, "Could you get this rock off me?" I asked in a rough tone—my throat was dry. I knew who it was—it was Andy. I could make out her blond bangs and flaming red hair. I was becoming more aware of my surroundings. I was in a small room with concrete walls. It was cold and damp and it had a strange odor. It wasn't until then I remembered what had happened. Andy, Carol, Victoria and I were attacked by Kilindas. Mason had betrayed us and killed Victoria right infront of us all. 

Andy got up from the wooden bench and walked over to me. "It ain't no rock." She said in a course tone, "don't touch it—it's a cast." It wasn't until then I noticed my Raichu and her Ninetales sleeping on the bench she was on. I guessed the Kilindas let us keep them for now. 

I sighed and closed my eyes again. I remembered the huge; deep cut on my side that nearly made me vomit. My side was hurting really bad a that moment. "Cast?" I asked in a husky voice. My throat felt dry like a barren desert and my stomach was empty. 

"The Kilindas bandaged you up," Andy replied as she ran her hands through my hair, "they want to keep us alive." She sighed as she brushed away a few stands of my blond hair from my face. 

"Why?" I asked. I thought they would've wanted us dead rather than alive and well. It seemed very odd to me that they would want to keep us alive.

Again, Andy sighed, "Apparently when we used our pokemon abilities, they decided if they found out how we got them, they could use us to help them. They see us as nothing but tools—objects to help them get themselves rich. Kilindas never fail to sicken me." She paused for a short moment, then spoke again, "Oh well Only a Rukonian can survive the power of the Orb of Mew anyways Hopefully they'll just kill themselves trying to get our power"

I decided not to talk about that anymore. I looked around a bit, trying to figure out where Carol was. I could remember her screams and tears she let out as she laid by Victoria's dead body. Thinking about it made my stomach turn. I closed my eyes tightly, releasing a tear from one eye. Victoria was gone. "Where" I started, "where's Carol?" I asked. I couldn't see her anywhere from where I was. I was lying in some sort of bed with a blanket draped over me. 

"Witnessing Victoria being killed really got to her" Andy's voice was slightly breaking down. I knew she and Victoria were close. We were all close to Victoria—she was our big sister. "She keeps getting visions of it over and over again... She kept screaming and crying when she was here... So the Kilindas took her out to get her therapy." Andy explained as her Ninetales hopped off the wooden bench and nuzzled up against her leg. "I haven't heard any news on her for two days..." She sighed.

I paused for a moment. I could've sworn I heard Andy say two days'. "What do you mean?" I asked, I attempted to lift myself up, but my side hurt too much to do so, so I had to stay put. "How long have we been here?" I was confused—I remembered waking up a couple times but drifting back to sleep soon after. I felt really thirsty and hungry. I guessed I had been out for more than one day. 

Andy looked over to me and smiled slightly, "Oh yeah, you've been out for almost four days now." She said casually as she stroked her Ninetales' fur coat gingerly. "You kept waking up and falling asleep right after. Sometimes you would wake up screaming then be out like a light a second after. You've been delirious, had a bad fever." She explained as her Ninetales returned to my Raichu. It was still sleeping and I wondered if it was hurt at all. "The doctor will be here soon," Andy continued, "He checks on us often. He's just going to see how your wound is healing basically." Andy paused for a moment; "You must be hungry." She said. I had been waiting for her to ask that question for a while. 

I nodded, "Yeah" Andy smiled and told me that she would get me some food, but I shouldn't expect anything good. She explained to me that we got cheep sandwiches and plain water and that was it. I didn't care though; I was hungry enough to eat almost anything. I closed my eyes for a moment. My side was hurting like hell still, I could feel the pain on my skin where it was split and inside my body where the knife had cut deep into. It was a horrible feeling. Again, I drifted off to a painful sleep. 

* * *

I awoke soon after. My cheek was being tapped gently by an elderly man. He had blue eyes, a short mustache and white hair. His face was covered by wrinkles. "Hello," he smiled down at me when I finally opened my eyes. My throat was hurting now from being so dry and I didn't feel like I could talk—so I didn't say anything. 

"I'm just going to check your injury, girl." He said in a soft tone as he removed the blanket from over me. I was hit by the cold air of the room and it startled me. Goosebumps covered my skin where my clothes did not cover. I was in the same clothes I was in when we were attacked by the Kilindas. My baggy blue jeans and my favorite light blue top that failed to cover my stomach. 

I looked over to the other side of the room where Andy was. She was holding one of her biceps with a hand. I then noticed a small needle lying on a small wooden box that was beside her. I guessed she just got some sort of shot. Andy was giving the doctor an angry glare, like the one she used to give Mason all the time. She didn't seem to trust anyone, and I couldn't blame her at all. 

Suddenly, I felt the bandage around my waist being removed. I winced in pain as I felt the cloth brush against the huge gash on my side. It hurt, but not as badly as some of the other things I had been through before. For example when my wings were severely damaged in the attack. I remembered hearing the bones in my wings snap, the feathers stained with my own red blood and seeing a broken bone penetrate through one of Andy's wings. My wings were hidden under the skin in my back now. He worked quickly and had the long bandage completely removed in no time. I looked down to the wound to find it had been poorly stitched up. It looked almost as if an amateur had done it. The stitches were all spread out and uneven. I could still see some flesh from the areas where the stitching came undone before it healed. 

"Seems to be healing well," the doctor announced as he began to fit on a new bandage. It hurt a lot—I felt like screaming in pain. It was way too tight; it hurt my side horribly. I closed my eyes tightly as he continued to wrap the long white cloth around my waist. My hands had curled into tight fists. It was then I realized this man was not a doctor at all. He was probably just assigned to attempt to be a doctor for us. No way a professional doctor would do things the way he was—making sloppy stitches, wrapping bandages too tightly and making a simple shot hurt enough to piss off a teen like Andy. 

Once the man was finished bandaging me up, he literally stabbed a needle in my arm and gave me some sort of medicine. When he was done, he got up and picked up his stuff and left. I was relieved he was gone. 

Andy got up and looked down at me, "You okay?" She asked with a concerned tone—like the one Victoria used when I first met her. She looked behind her and picked up a small plate with a single sandwich and a glass of water and offered them to me, "Here, have mine. The doctor didn't bring enough for both of us." She explained. 

I was starving. I was about to say thanks but my throat was just too dry to even let me try. I lifted one of my gloved hands and gently tapped my throat it with. I hoped Andy would know what I was trying to tell her. She smiled and seemed to know what I was trying to say. She handed me the glass of water. Unfortunately though, I couldn't drink it lying down; I had to sit up. Andy noticed this and with her assistance, I was able to sit up. My side hurt horribly from it, but I had to drink or else I would dehydrate. I quickly drank down the water as it soothed my throat of the dryness it was suffering. I sighed in relief. 

"Thanks," I finally managed to say. My throat was free of its drought and I felt a lot better, even though I was still hungry and hadn't even taken a bite out of the sandwich Andy offered to me. I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them, I saw Raichu sitting on the small bed infront of me, smiling. 

"Rai!" It chirped happily. It seemed relieved to see me awake. I had been out for almost 4 days and whenever I did wake up, I had a high fever and was delirious. It jumped up and hugged me tightly, waving its powerful tail back and forth like a puppy. Unfortunately, its hug got my side and I had to push it away to stop the pain. Raichu paused and looked at me with an expression filled with hurt. "Chu?"

I sighed, "I'm sorry, Raichu. You just hurt me a bit." I spoke in a soft tone to it; I didn't want to seem rude or mean in anyway. Fortunately though, Raichu understood and made sure to be careful around me for the rest of the day. I finally got to eat the sandwich Andy had given me. Though it didn't fill me up completely and I was still hungry, I felt a lot better and thanked her. Of course, she just shrugged as if it were nothing. 

As the day went by, Andy explained everything to me. When I blacked out, we were all taken to the basement of the Kilindas' Head Quarters. They put us all in the small cell we were in currently and didn't feed or care for us at all. I was told that Carol's screams and crying had annoyed the men watching us so they would constantly beat her. It wasn't until one of the founders of the clan had decided we were valuable for our powers when Carol was given the attention she needed. She was looked after for her wounds and was given therapy to help her get through witnessing Victoria's death. The Kilindas also attempted to heal my own wounds, but no doctor wanted to help a Rukonian so they got just anyone to do the job. That explained why my side hurt so much, why the stitches were done so poorly and why the man made my bandage so tight. Andy explained to me that one of the main reasons they wanted us for our powers was because they saw us as tools that could help them trick other Rukonians into trusting us, then leading them straight to the Kilindas. I was sickened by it. 

Once again, things were changing. Mason had betrayed us, Victoria was dead, Carol was having troubles controlling her psychic powers and now we were looking forward to becoming slaves for the Kilindas. I knew we were lucky to get our pokemon back, but everything else was gone. The book Andy had given me, the necklace Carol had made for Victoria and even Carol's Pikachu doll. I was told by Andy the Kilindas burnt it in a fire. I was enraged by this—now Carol had nothing. Her Pikachu doll was the last thing she had left from her father and Victoria was the only one she ever truly trusted. 

Later on that night, a different male came to our cell and gave us a couple sandwiches, some water and cheep food for our pokemon. He never said anything to our faces, but I heard him mutter crude comments about Rukonians under his breath. When he finally left, Andy threw her glass of water against the hard concrete wall, shattering the glass into tiny pieces. 


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter #13

Sleeping in that cold, small cell was always difficult. Raichu always stayed close to me to keep me warm and a bit more comfortable. Andy and I hardly spoke to each other though. Mainly because we spent most of our time just thinking about our lives and what had become of them. 

I looked down at my wristwatch and watched at the little hands ticked clockwise and make little beeping sounds. I sighed and hugged my knees to my chest, resting my forehead on them. Raichu was curled up being me, sleeping as usual. My wound was healing a bit everyday, but it still hurt a lot. By now, I was used to it though. I had been through a lot of pain so it didn't bother me too much. Everyday a different sorry excuse for a doctor would come in and check on it. Then he would give us some cheep food and give us our daily shots. We still didn't know why we had to have them. 

As I thought to myself about my mother whom I still loved with all my heart, I heard the sound of footsteps down the hallway, heading towards our cell. I didn't bother to look up as he stopped infront of our enclosure. He then banged on the metal bars with a gun, "Hey!" He growled. Andy and I looked up and over to him, "You got a visitor." He said. 

"Probably Mason," Andy muttered angrily, "who else would visit?" I looked over to her as she looked away. I sighed and looked back to the bars to see someone I never expected to see ever again in my life. It was my mother.

I paused for a moment and literally stopped breathing, "Mother?" I choked out and I scrambled to get up and ran to the bars. The Kilinda had left us so we could talk. "What are you doing here?" I asked in a whisper, I didn't want to get too much attention from anyone else who could be around.

My mother looked down me with her navy-blue eyes, which were filled with tears of grief. Her long, flowing black hair was a mess. I could tell she had been horribly worried about me since the last time I saw her at the pokemon center. "Seadra," she sighed as she caressed my cheek, "Oh god I'm so sorry" she sobbed as tears began to flow down her cheeks. "Seadra" she trailed off, her voice was shaking. 

I held my mother's hand in my own, squeezing it tightly. "Mother" I choked, I could feel myself start to cry again as my eyes filled with hot tears. "Why are you here? It's dangerous You know that." I whispered. Like me, she was a Rukonian. She was in great danger just by being there.

My mother nodded, "Yes, Seadra, I know, I know its dangerous to be here" She sighed. "But I had to see you one more time." I paused, one more time? What did that mean? I didn't even have to ask for she continued on, "People are becoming suspicious I think they know what I am now, Seadra. I'm going to flee the country and go somewhere where Rukonians aren't hated and where I will be safe There's a huge outbreak now People who aren't Rukonians are even being captured and killed It's just horrible now" By now, she was crying out waterfalls of tears. I did my best to wipe them away. 

"Please" I pleaded, "Don't cry. I can't stand to see you cry," I whimpered as she continued to cry her heart out. It was then I noticed red marks on her neck and cuts on her arms. I paused for a moment, knowing these were not the kind of marks you would get by any accident. Someone, a male, made them. I knew it was my father. No wonder my mother was leaving—my father knew she was a Rukonian. I felt sick to my stomach. 

"Seadra," my mother started as she reached into her pocket of her leather jacket. She then brought out a pendent. The chain was made of pure gold and it sparkled as the dim lights shawn onto it. It also had a mysterious-looking jewel on it. It was a light blue color with what almost appeared to be a tiny feather inside of it. The jewel was in the shape of a teardrop and had gold on both ends of the delicate stone. "This," my mother continued, "has been passed down our family for generations. It symbolizes the spirits of our ancestors." She then took my hand and put it into it and closed it, "Take it. It was given to me by my grandmother and now I will pass it down to you. One day, Seadra, you will give it to your own grand daughter." She said in a soft, comforting voice. "Put it on, I want to see it."

With tears in my eyes, I excepted the precious necklace from my mother and put it around my neck. It fit on easily and I looked down at it as the precious stone resting against my chest. "Thank you, mother. I will give it to my grand daughter one day I promise you that." I smiled slightly. 

My mother finally smiled back. "It looks good on you. Keep it on, it will bring you good luck. It will let everything go right. Your ancestors will protect you." She said as her smile became bigger. I nodded. Then, there was a silence. We were quiet for what seemed like hours. Finally, my mother spoke up, "I should go," she sighed as her tears began to come back, "I have to leave the country before I am caught" 

I looked down and nodded, "I understand." I whispered as I held the stone on my new necklace in my hands. "I promise you this stone will be handed down from generation to generation for as long as our family blood line is alive."

Again, my mother smiled. "Thank you" she whispered as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She then pulled me into the bars of my cell and attempted to hug me. Crying on her shoulder, I hugged back tightly. "I love you, my daughter" She whispered by my ear, "Never forget who and what you are." She said. 

I nodded, "I promise."

My mother smiled and ran a hand through my hair one more time. She then sighed and got up and walked away. I wished I could just break down the bars infront of me and run to my mother and stay with her forever. My mother was so important to me, she loved me more than anything, and I loved her more than anything. It just seemed so unfair that we had to be separated. Once she was out of view, I leaned my head against the bars and started to cry again, holding the stone on my new pendent with one hand, holding it close to my heart. Andy walked up to me from behind and rubbed my back while holding me close to her. Everything was falling apart for us. Everything. 

* * *

A few hours after my mother left, Carol was lead to our cell by a Kilinda. He was pushing her the whole day and cursing at her crudely. She never attempted to fight back though. Her skin was pale, her eyes had dark rings under them, and her hair was a mess. She had the saddest eyes on her face I had ever seen in my entire life. She looked absolutely miserable, she looked like a lost child with nothing left in her life. But there was one problem, that was what she was. 

"Get in there!" The male growled as he shoved Carol into our cell. She hit the concrete floor hard, scratching her arm she landed on. There were tears in her reddened eyes and she didn't seem to be in physical pain—it was more emotional pain. 

The man then slammed the bared door shut and walked out, leaving Andy, Carol and I alone with only our pokemon. Carol held two pokeballs in one hand. I knew one was Lapras and the other was Sunflora. Andy got up from the wooden bench she always sat on and kneeled down beside Carol, helping her up. "Carol? Are you okay, kid?" She asked with a concerned tone. "Did they hurt you badly?"

Carol shook her head and got up, "No" She sobbed as she wiped away some of her tears onto her gloved hand. I didn't say anything as she sat down by the wall and leaned against it. She seemed skinner than she used to be—a lot skinner. I remembered reading about depression once or twice. I could tell from the way Carol was behaving and knowing most of what she had been through, I knew she was probably in one. I remembered books saying that if a depression is not treated, it won't go away and will just get worse as time progresses. It seemed obvious to me that the attempted therapy for Carol hadn't worked at all. She looked much worse than Andy told me before they took her away.

Andy sat down onto her bench again. She didn't say anything to Carol. It felt awkward to be in the same place as the two without anyone talking or saying a word. I felt uneasy like that. I then decided to break the silence, "Carol," I started. I was still holding the stone on my necklace my mother had given me close to my chest. Carol looked over to me. There were steams of tears running down her cheeks. "Want to sit here?" I asked. I was sitting on the bed I had been on for a couple days. I wasn't able to move around much because of my injury, but there was room for someone else to sit there.

Carol shook her head, "No thanks I just want to be alone." She murmured as she looked down at Victoria's Sunflora's pokeball. I knew she was thinking about her that very moment.

"Look," I sighed, "You can't let yourself be swallowed up over this." I said using a voice that mixed gentle with strict. Carol looked at me, paying attention to what I was saying to her. "Not that long ago my own mother came by, gave me this pendent then left. I'll never see her again. Never. And I'll have no way of knowing if she'll be okay." I said, trying to make her realize that I was in an even worse situation than her. She just nodded, but I doubted she even cared. I knew what I was saying wasn't working, so I spoke from my heart, "Carol, Victoria wouldn't want any of us to end up suffering. She would never want you to be so miserable Do her a favor and try to be happy. She sacrificed herself for you, now it's your turn to pay her back." 

Carol paused when I said this. Andy gave me a glare, one that literally screamed "Don't you even dare talking about Victoria infront of Carol! You idiot! Idiot!" Carol's tears stopped flowing and she put down Victoria's pokeball. After a long and tense silence, Carol replied to my statement. "You're right Victoria and my father always told me to never give up. I'm not going to give up. We're going to get out of here and we will live normal lives, just like we're supposed to" She said boldly. I smiled, what I had said hit the spot perfectly. Carol now had a determined look on her face, "We will make Mason pay for what he did."

Andy smiled and nodded, "We will." She said as she stood up. "We will give Mason what he deserves and will live normal lives in a safe place with no hiding, with no fear for what we are. We can't sit around here, wishing for our ideal future to come to us. We must actually get up and make that ideal future real!" Andy shouted. "When a Kilinda comes down to take us up for that pokemon-power testing thing, we will escape. It doesn't matter how many of them there are, or how many are armed, we will fight our way out—or die trying." She said boldly. 

Carol nodded, "I agree. I would rather risk my life to escape than live here and suffer. Victoria would want us to do this." She said as she stood up infront of Andy. "Seadra, are you in?" She asked. 

The two then looked down at me. I had Raichu in my lap. I looked down at the necklace my mother had given me. I remembered promising her that I would survive long enough to give it to my grand daughter one day in the future. I was risking breaking a promise, but then again, I didn't even know what would happen to us if we stayed there anyways. Reluctantly, I nodded. "I'm in."

Now, we had to plan our escape. We would have to make sure to plan everything correctly or we would risk it failing and us getting ourselves killed. We knew using our pokemon abilities were essential for our escape, and we would have to rely on our pokemon to back us up. Unfortunately, if we were to get out safely, we would have to fly. But we had no way of telling how much our wings had healed since the fight, which took place about a week before. I remembered Andy having a bone penetrate through and hearing one in my wing snap. Fortunately for Carol, she had no serious injuries for hers. We figured we would have to wait until the time came before we could find out if our wings had healed enough. But to make things worse, we didn't even know when the Kilindas had planned to start their research on our pokemon abilities. So we had no idea how much time we had for our wings to heal completely. 

We continued patching up our plans for several hours until the doctor came in again. He gave us our shots, checked on my wound and gave us our food. Again, we got plain sandwiches and glasses of plain water. It went by smoothly and quickly, except right before the attempted-doctor walked out, Carol started screaming again, holding her head with her hands and shaking uncontrollably. The man shouted at her to shut up, he was unaware of her psychic visions. She couldn't hear him scream at her to stop. She was totally lost in a vision again. I prayed that it would end soon before something happened. Suddenly, he struck her with the back of his hand to her head, knocking her onto the floor, hard. With a twisted grin on his face, he stepped over her and he left. 

Andy checked on her to make sure she was fine. Fortunately, she was. But then she warned us that her vision was about our escape. She didn't know who, but someone was going to die soon. Now, we were even more nervous about the escape. I could only hope that the pendent my mother had given me will give us the strength to help us through our war against the Kilindas. 


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter #14

Days passed and each one seemed to drag along as slow as a Slowpoke. Even though we were being fed, we always felt hungry, even our pokemon did. I kept myself going by keeping faith in the words my mother gave me when I received my pendent. Carol liked to just look at it—I guess the small feather inside the blue stone was what caught her attention the most. My mother told me the stone was the home of all the souls of our ancestors, and that they would all be behind me when I needed them. Knowing this, I felt more comfortable and I felt that our escape would be a success. 

The fake doctors stopped giving us our shots, which was a relief to us all. Andy's arm had several red spots on her bicept where her shots were given. Carol still would have visions of Victoria, and they always shook her up badly. Because of this, Andy and I made sure to stay close to her at all times so if she did get into another trance, she wouldn't hurt herself when trashing around. Also, by holding her in Andy's arms, Carol was able to feel more comfortable when she snapped out of her visions. 

My wound was healing a little each day, but it still hurt like hell. The poor stitches did little to help and I felt sick whenever I looked at it. One doctor decided to take off the bandage too early, so now my wound was more vulnerable to disease. Fortunately, the doctors would clean it daily just in case, but they would normally rub it a bit too rough so some stitches would come off, causing me to bleed. It soon came to the point when the stitching was all gone and I was bleeding constantly. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad and Andy was able to rip a piece of cloth from my blanket to use as a bandage to cover it up. She would even use her own drinking water to clean it each day very carefully since the doctors stopped coming by. If it weren't for Andy, I knew I would probably die. Andy had soon officially took Victoria's place as our leader and took the responsibility to take care of and watch out for us. 

One day, as I sat down on my bed with Raichu cuddled up close to me, I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching our cell. I looked over to Carol, whom was in Andy's lap as usual with her Ninetales close by. Carol, like always, held her Lapras' pokeball in her hands. Andy seemed to be really tired, but I could tell she heard the footsteps as well. Every time this occurred, we had to ready ourselves incase this would be our escape day. 

Finally, a large man wearing a semi-formal business suit and gray hair came into view along with two men behind him. From the way he walked and looked at us, it was clear he had a high status among the Kilinda Clan. I wondered if he was the Roloc guy who half-owned the Kilinda Clan with my father. 

"Well," He started with a deep voice; "you are the three girls with the pokemon-powers" He smiled at us. Andy growled at him while Carol looked away. "Now I don't want to waste any time, I have a meeting in fifteen minutes. Tell me, how did you get your powers?" He asked. The way he spoke and looked at us was like how a King would to a servant. I was enraged.

Andy shrugged, "I don't know, how did we get our powers?" She grinned. It was clear she wasn't telling him anything. I decided to play along and gave him the same grin she was. Now, the tables were turned. Andy wasn't going to give in like this; she wasn't going down without a fight.

One of the men that stood behind the large male spoke up, "Want us to take them to the basement, Mr. Roloc?" He asked. He seemed young—about 21 or so. I wondered why someone so young was working for this guy, or having anything to do with the Kilinda clan. 

Mr. Roloc shook his head, "No. Leave the girls alone. They'll have the night to remember how they got their powers Until then, they shall receive no food, nor water, understand?" 

Hesitantly, the young male nodded, "Yes, sir." 

With that, Mr. Roloc and the two men walked away, leaving us in the cell. I sighed and looked over to Andy. She had a worried look on her face—one which showed much more worry than usual. I knew why—we weren't going to eat or drink anything that night, and we were all already hungry and thirsty. Of course, we always were anyways. Andy sighed and buried her face in her hands. I could barely hear her making small whimpering and sniffling sounds. 

"Andy?" I started as I got off my bed and approached her. I hardly ever got up, since my wound would normally start to bleed whenever I did. But now, it didn't matter. I knew Andy was crying. We were trying so hard to keep each other alive and Andy had so much pressure on her. She was aware she was the one Carol and I were following now that Victoria was gone. It put a lot of stress on her. 

Andy looked up at me—her usually strong eyes were filled with tears. She wiped them away with her gloves and tried to make it look like she wasn't crying by forcing a smile. "Look at me," she laughed slightly, "I've got something in my eye" She lied as she continued to wipe the tears away. 

I frowned and knelt down infront of her, looking into her eyes, "You did the right thing, Andy." I said, "I'm proud you didn't tell them Who cares if we don't get anything to eat for one night? We've been through worse." I smiled reassuringly. 

Carol looked up to Andy and nodded, "Seadra's right. Don't worry, things will be okay once we get out." She said in a tone of hope and strength. Our words soothed Andy and her tears stopped flowing. Smiling happily, she nodded.

I was waken up the next morning by a young male kicking at my side. Obviously, the first thing I did was Thunder Shock him since it was my wounded side, and it hurt a lot. He backed away and cursed at me and kicked me again. This time, I didn't strike back; I heard a few other males' voices from around me so I wasn't going to take the risk. I groaned and lifted myself up and looked to where Andy and Carol normally slept to find them being restrained by several of the males. 

"Get up!" The young male ordered as I struggled up onto my feet. Like always, my side was hurting like you wouldn't believe and it was bleeding again. I finally got up only to be held by three men. One of them put what seemed to be a rubber bag around my hands to prevent me from shocking them while the other two made sure I couldn't move. 

I looked to Andy and Carol, they had bruises on their faces, I figured the men had beaten them when they tried to fight back. I could hardly believe I had slept through it. Beside them, where our pokeballs. They were shaking a lot, I knew our pokemon were trying to break free, by braces attached onto them prevented this. 

I didn't bother to fight as the men dragged us out of our cell for the first time in the longest time. It felt strange to be in such an open space compared to our cell; we were in there that long. My mind was filled with thoughts as I was dragged into an elevator that led up to the highest floor of the Kilinda Clan's headquarters. I could feel my clothes soaking up the blood my wound was releasing and I was worried I would pass out from blood loss again. Fortunately, the cloth Andy wrapped around it helped to prevent this from occurring.

When we finally got to the top floor, we found ourselves surrounded by men with formal business suits and serious looks on their cold faces. At the front of the room, was my father along with the Roloc guy. They stood behind a desk with grins on their faces.

The men released my Raichu, Victoria's Sunflora and Andy's Ninetales. I didn't know why they did this though. I noticed our pokemon seemed disorientated, probably because they had no idea where they were. One of the men tossed Carol her pokeball. She held onto it tightly, her Lapras was inside it. Raichu looked over to me and folded its ears back the moment it realized something was wrong. Our pokemon didn't do anything, they could tell we were in danger, but anything they would do could result in disaster. 

I felt my empty stomach turn at the sight of my father. His expression was no different than it was when he first discovered I was a Rukonian. He looked at me with a gaze of hatred and disgust. "Well, hello, Seadra." He said to me as I looked down at my feet. I couldn't even look at his face. I could sense him just looking at me while I stood there. The men that had taken Andy, Carol and I there had let us go and we were left standing there infront of our greatest enemies besides Mason. They even removed the rubber bag around my gloved hands. "So," he started, "it seems you and your new friends have gotten lucky Those powers you possess, give them to me." He ordered in a harsh voice. I was shaking in fear. 

"No," I heard Andy reply with a straight tone as she took a step towards my father and Mr. Roloc. I choked, knowing that if she tried anything, we would be in great danger. The men surrounding us could have guns with them, and we were all still weak from the big fight. I was in no condition to play out Andy's escape plan, and Carol's visions came to her too randomly and often. Though she would never admit it, Andy was also weak; her wings were badly damaged in the fight, like Carol and I's. But there was no way for us to tell how damaged they were. Escape was almost impossible for us then, but this may have been our only chance. 

My father raised an eyebrow, "Oh? If you tell me the secret to your powers, I will let you three go" He smiled. I looked over to Andy, giving her a look that begged her not to tell, because I knew my father was lying. He wouldn't let us go, especially after everything that was happening. We would probably end up in our cell again, or maybe we would even get killed, since we were no longer any use to them. I didn't trust my father at all, and Andy knew it. 

"No," Andy replied to my father's offer, "no," she repeated herself. I sighed in relief. Suddenly, I noticed something in Andy's palms which where behind her back. It appeared to be a tiny flame. Again, I choked, she was going to attack everyone with a fire attack and try to escape right there and then. I prayed to myself she wouldn't do it, but Carol was also getting ready to attack. She was getting ready for an Ice Beam attack from behind her back as well. 

I had no choice; I had to attack when Andy and Carol did. I looked down at Raichu and it nodded, knowing exactly what to do. My heart was beating rapidly, I was scared, I was really scared. 

"If you cooperate with me, young Andy, I will not be forced to hurt you," my father growled as he was becoming impatient with her. He was becoming tense, and I could see Andy was nervous as well.

"You have already hurt us." She said in a straight tone. And with that, she blasted giant flames of burning fire towards the men surrounding us. At the same moment, Carol began to freeze as many of the men as she could into solid ice. Her bright blue, glowing beams of ice struck them hard, knocking them down onto the carpeted floor and trapping them in huge blocks of solid ice. 

Andy's Ninetales mimicked Andy's attacks, blasting out fire onto the panicking men and setting the entire room on fire. I had to fight too, so whoever tried to escape, I was forced to use my thunderbolt on them, which knocked most of them out unconscious. Meanwhile, Victoria's Sunflora tried its best to help with its razor leaf, but because the room was filled with so many flames, Carol called it into its pokeball to keep it safe. The entire room was on fire and I was sweating bullets from the intense heat. 

My Raichu attacked all the men furiously as they scrambled to pull out their guns, but Carol would freeze them, causing them to fall to the ground and shatter before they had the chance to fire at us. We were winning, and I was amazed. The fight didn't last long and soon the only people left standing for Andy, Carol, my father, Mr. Roloc, our pokemon and me. 

We stood there for several tense seconds. My father and Mr. Roloc were shaking in fear. Their men were lying dead on the floor and the room was filling with choking smoke. I wasn't sure what to do—should I attack them for what they had done to us, or should I leave? I looked over to Andy and asked her this with one quick glance. 

"Let's go." Andy said as she turned away and headed for the door. The entire room was in flames and we all knew we would have to get out before the smoke got to us. Carol, our pokemon and I followed her closely, leaving my father and Mr. Roloc in the room to get out on their own. I didn't care at that moment if they managed to get out or not. 

Right before I ran through the doorway, I heard a loud gunshot. I spun around in a split second only to see my Raichu lying on the floor with a bullet shot in its side. I cursed loudly at my father, who was holding a pistol in his hand. He was laughing—he knew he couldn't get out of the building, but he figured since he was going to die, he might as well get us too. I quickly reached for my Raichu and held it tightly in my arms, it was still conscious, but it was weak. It wailed out in pain.

Andy and Carol were at the doorway, shouting at me, "Come on!" I scampered to follow them as I heard gunshots being fired behind me. A few were really close, so close I would feel the wind pass by my face more than once. My father was a lunatic, firing at us, showing no sign of stopping until we were out of view. Fortunately, the smoke soon made it impossible for him to even aim. But he got lucky—on his last shot, he got my arm. 

I skidded against my skin, removing a large amount of flesh and causing it to bleed heavily. The bullet hit a wall after getting my arm. I didn't say anything at all when it hit me; I was too concerned with getting out of the burning building. My arm would have to wait until we found a way out. 

Andy's fire attacks really got the building; the whole thing was in flames. The halls were empty for all the Kilindas had ran out for their lives. The intense heat caused me to sweat bullets and the heavy smoke was entering our lungs, causing us to start coughing. My side and arm were bleeding more and more every minute we ran through the burning halls. The smoke was getting thicker each moment, so Andy, Carol and I had to crawl to get out. I had to be extra carefully, since I had to help Raichu through. I spent almost every minute praying to myself that Raichu would be okay. I had already lost Eevee, and I wasn't going to lose Raichu. Unfortunately, it soon became clear there was no way for us to get out of the building. We were forced to jump through a window and attempt to fly. 

"We have no choice" Andy sighed as we crawled towards the nearest window. I was coughing uncontrollably as my lungs filled with the dark smoke caused by Andy's own fire attacks. 

Carol and I didn't object to Andy's command. She jumped up and using her elbow, smashed open the window and jumped through. Carol and I didn't even stop to even look out the window before we both jumped straight through. I felt the cold outside air hit my skin, a big temperature change compared to what it as like in the Kilinda Clan's headquarters. 

I could see Andy below me. She was able to spread her wings and with some struggle over control caused by the raging wind below her, was able to fly. The bone that had once punctured her wing was no longer there, obviously they had healed during the time they were hidden in her back. Carol was the lucky one of us; she never damaged her wings so she was able to fly easily. Of course, Andy flew upwards and helped her a bit. With Raichu in my arms tightly, I pushed out from my back and felt that familiar ripping and tearing pain. My wings spread out, but I couldn't move them!

"Seadra!" I heard Carol call out to me. I didn't have much time—I had to gain control over my wings or I would end up on the concrete below me. I began to panic, trashing back and forth, trying to get my wings to move. There was no explanation for what was happening. Never before had my wings not worked. "Seadra!" Carol screamed again. Suddenly, a strong wing blew her and Andy almost out of control. Our wings were weak so they had to land before anything would happen. Below me, was a huge crowd of people watching the building burn. Most of the people there were Kilindas. The moment Carol and Andy landed, they were attacked by the Kilindas. Fortunately, they did not beat on them badly, they mainly restrained them. They were too focused on watching me than the girls. They watched me in shock as the wind trashed me around like a cat with a mouse.

I looked below me, I made a guess that I had to regain control in less than 5 seconds or else no matter what, I'd be doomed. I finally gave up and decided to just let myself fall.

The Kilindas had won after all. 


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter #15

As I fell, I could feel the mix of the cold and hot air brushing against my face. The feathers in my wings were flying off into the wind, literally causing it to snow feathers down at the people below. Meanwhile, some of the other feathers were caught in the fire of the Kilinda Clan's headquarters, causing them to burn. I thought to myself about my life. I thought about the day I got Eevee as a birthday present from my parents, I remembered the day I found out I was a Rukonian, I remembered the day my father turned on me I held onto Raichu tighter in my arms, praying something would save us—my wings just wouldn't work. I looked down at the pendent my mother had given me and with one hand, I held onto the stone tightly as it started to feel warm in my hand. It was then I began to wonder if anyone would go to my funeral. I wondered what it was going to be like to die. 

Suddenly, I felt something grab onto me by my waist tightly. I jerked when the sudden grip stopped my fall, nearly causing me to vomit. I blinked and looked behind me, expecting to see Andy or Carol, but instead, I saw nothing. I paused and realized I was only a few feet from slamming down onto the hard concrete below me, but nothing visible was holding me. 

I could hear the people below me, "What? How is she staying in the air like that?! She's not flapping her wings!" I heard one shout in disbelief. "Impossible!" 

I could've sworn I felt someone holding me, wrapping its arms around my waist and holding my back to it. But, it was completely impossible! I was totally shocked to this, but it saved my like when I was unable to fly. Finally, I made a far-out guess, ". Victoria?" I whispered. Was it Victoria's spirit that had saved me? 

I would never know who or what had saved me, but I recalled someone screaming, "Tsubasa no Kami! Tsubasa no Kami!" And then, the person ran off screaming "It's the dragon!" To me, it didn't make any sense at all, but I was more concentrated with what was going to happen next.

Slowly, I felt myself being lowered down onto the ground. When my feet finally touched the ground, the arms around me let go. I quickly looked behind me to double-check if anyone was there, but all I saw were Kilindas. They were looking at me in shock and anger. I knew they were just as puzzled I was about what had just occurred, but they still wanted me dead as usual. Before I could think it through, I was tackled and restrained onto the hard concrete. They ripped Raichu out my arms and shoved it into a rubber bag. My shot arm was hurting more and more each second, and having it slammed onto the concrete didn't help at all. Not to mention my wings were trampled once again. 

Without warning, everyone stopped and paused, looking up to their burning headquarters. I blinked and looked over to it, seeing giant flames swallowing it up and destroying the once proud structure. I could faintly hear the screams of someone from inside the building I looked up to the top floor to see my father and Mr. Roloc waving their arms in the air, screaming for help. I remembered Andy, Carol and I leaving them there to die for everything they had done, but I suddenly regretted it. There was no reason for them to die, nothing would change. I didn't know what came over me, but I soon found myself fighting free from the Kilindas. I trashed around franticly, trying to break free. Finally, I used a powerful Thunderbolt, knocking out several of the Kilindas. Before more could take me down, I ran straight for the building. My mind was racing, I didn't know exactly why I was doing this—risking my own life to save my enemies. As I entered the flaming doorway into the burning building, I could hear Andy and Carol screaming at me to stop. 

* * *

It was a tough battle, but after several severe burns and close calls, I was at the top floor of the Kilinda Clan's headquarters. I was coughing from the heavy smoke that entered my lungs and I was holding my arm that my father had just barely shot. There, I saw my father and Mr. Roloc, screaming out the window, trying to take in as much of the clean air as they could instead of the smoke from the room. They spun around and looked at me, scared senseless. They probably thought I had come back to kill them off or something. 

In a panic, my father rose his gun at me once again. "I'll kill you!" He declared, his eyes filled with fear and rage. 

I didn't have anytime to play games, I quickly ran over to Mr. Roloc, ignoring my father's threats. It was then I decided I would not save my father. I knew that he deserved to die. No father should ever turn on his daughter like the way he did. He made the decision for me; he was going to be left to die. Besides, I wasn't going to risk him trying to kill me if I even went near him. 

"Come on." I said in a serious tone to Mr. Roloc. I kept a straight face. 

He was shaking and was coughing badly. I had to get him out of there as soon as possible. I looked at my surroundings to the huge window where the two men were trying to get clean air. I concitered jumping through it—but I didn't feel like risking my life again like that. I had to choose between trying to go through the burning building yet again, or take the jump. My wings were still out and because they were so weak, I couldn't even pull them into my back. 

I grabbed onto Mr. Roloc's hand and ran for the window as I father fired several bullets—all missing. Finally, I got sick of him and used a Thunder Shock attack, knocking him down. I didn't feel bad for what I did—I didn't even regret it. 

"Hold on." I said as I climbed onto the window's railing. I had Mr. Roloc wrap his arms around my waist while I held onto him. I always had difficulty flying when carrying Raichu. Now, I was in for the ultimate test. I had to carry a man who was probably atleast 200 pounds! It was a risk I was willing to take. 

Looking down below me, I could see the crowd of Kilindas watching in complete terror. They had expressions of mixed reactions. Some thought I was suicidal, some thought I had something evil planned while others didn't know what to think. 

"No! Don't!" Mr. Roloc cried in fear as he let go of me, but I didn't let him. 

Finally, I made the jump. The building was high, which gave me atleast some time to try to get my wings working. I struggled to flap them, but they wouldn't even budge. "Work, damn it!" I cursed as my heart began to beat heavily. I could hear Mr. Roloc screaming in terror as we fell. My wings weren't working at all, and I was becoming extremely scared. Probably even more than Mr. Roloc who was starting to cry. "WORK!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I wasn't going to let myself die like this. I wasn't going to die doing this. I wasn't going to leave Andy and Carol. I wasn't going to give up. Never. 

With nothing left to do, I used a free hand to hold onto the pendent my mother had given to me tightly. She told me the pendent would protect me. She said the souls of my ancestors would help me. "Please" I whimpered as I continued to fall. 

Suddenly, I felt my wings being pulled into my back. But this time, when I did so, several feathers were shed and were sent flying in the wind. I had done nothing to pull them back. Then suddenly, I could feel my pendent become warn again. I looked down at it to find it was glowing. Too much was happening too fast, so I couldn't even ask myself what was going on. Then, I looked behind me to find strange wings appear almost out of nowhere.

The wings were huge, more than twice the size of my normal wings. The feathers were glowing brightly and feathers shed freely from them. As they blew through the hot air, they dissolved into nothing. They appeared as folded wings and they spread out quickly. I was able to move them with no effort at all. As I flapped my new wings, which were obviously not the same wings I had before, I finally realized what was happening. My old wings had vanished and new, stronger, bigger and glowing wings appeared. I took full advantage of them and soon found myself flying through the air gracefully as feathers glided down to the crowd below. The wings were much stronger than my natural ones—I was able to fly without any trouble while carrying Mr. Roloc's weight. 

The expression on the people's faces had completely changed. No longer did they appear angry—but were awed. Many of them let go of their weapons they once held in their hands firmly. When Carol and Andy were released, they only watched in amazement. 

The wings weren't natural at all. They seemed almost magical. My pendent continued to glow brightly as Mr. Roloc's fear and anger was let go. Instead, he was totally silent. 

Finally, I reached the concrete ground. Immediately after Mr. Roloc's feet touched the ground, he backed away from me and looked at me in amazement. I expected to be beaten down that minute, but instead, the Kilindas all backed away. Suddenly, I felt like every little bit of energy I once had in my body had been drained. I felt myself began to go limp and collapse. I felt Andy's arms grab onto me and call for help as I blacked out. 

* * *

I didn't know how long I had been out, but when I did awake, I was alone. I expected to find myself locked up in a cage and lying on the ground. But I was surprised to find things weren't like that. Instead, I found myself lying in a comfortable bed with white sheets. The whole room was white—from the small tables to the walls. I could hear faint beeping coming from beside me, but I didn't bother to look for where it was from. 

The room was a bit dark, but not too much. The blinds on the large window nearby were closed, but sunlight still shawn through. I soon realized where I was. I was in a hospital. Somewhere I never expected to be.

I closed my eyes for a moment, gathering my thoughts. I could remember everything—from the attack against the Kilindas to the strange wings that had come out of nowhere. I felt my hands begin to shake as I thought about it all. I hadn't realized until that moment how lucky I was. I could've died god knows how many times that day, but something was on my side that whole time. Something or someone was helping me there. My first guess was Victoria; but then again, my pendent did glow Or Could it have something to do with what that one Kilinda shouted? Tsubasa no Kami? What was that? I sighed and closed my eyes. I hoped Andy and Carol were okay, not to mention Raichu I had a pounding headache and I was sore all over. I felt weak and my arm had a bandage around it from my father's shot. My father

It wasn't until then I remembered what had happened my father. I left him in the Kilinda Head Quarters. I left him there to die. I felt my stomach turn when I realized I had literally killed him. I killed my own father I felt horrible. Now, I wished I hadn't lived through the whole thing. I wished I was dead. I wished I had someone to answer all the questions that spun through my head. 

I was alone. 


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter #16

I didn't know how long I was there, lying in that hospital bed. I felt so alone there. I hadn't realized until then how much I loved Andy and Carol. They were always with me and would rarely leave me alone. I guess that was a result of being with them all the time for over a year. 

As I stared up at the white ceiling, I thought about the strange, unnatural wings I had grown. I wondered if they were there to stay, or where just a once in a life time thing. Oh well, I didn't care about that much. All I could think about was the Kilindas. I had saved Mr. Roloc's life. It wasn't until then I wondered if my act would have any impact on the war against Rukonians. I hopped it did though.

Suddenly, I heard a click from the door of the room. I looked over to it to find a nurse with strawberry-blond hair walk in. She appeared to be very short. She wore small glasses over her blue eyes and her skin was covered with wrinkles. She smiled at me. "You're awake." She said.

"Am I in a hospital?" I asked, just to make sure. 

The nurse nodded, "Yes. You've been in here for two days now. How is your arm?" She asked. I looked down at my arm my father had barely missed to shoot. A bandage was wrapped around it. It felt snug and secure, but not so much that it hurt. 

"I'm okay." I replied. "Umm Where are my friends?" I asked. I was horribly worried about them—not to mention Raichu.

The nurse was going through some papers on a clipboard while I was talking to her. It took her a while to reply to my question. "I can get them to come in you would like." She said as she marked down some things on the sheet. 

I nodded, "Sure." I said. 

The kind nurse smiled at me in a warm way and left the room, closing the door behind her. I stayed put in the bed, not moving. I was sore all over. By now you would think I was used to it—but I wasn't. As I laid in that hospital bed, I wondered if Andy and Carol were okay. I also wondered if Mr. Roloc was alright—after all, he did inhale a lot of smoke. I knew I had too, for my lungs felt sore. 

I didn't know how much time had passed when the door opened again. I looked over to it, expecting to see Andy and Carol walk in—but they didn't. Instead, I was shocked to see my mother. "M-mother?!" I nearly shouted. I could hardly believe it was her.

My mother looked at me. Her expression showed guilt and relief as she looked at me. She forced a smile and walked over to me. "How are you, Seadra?" She asked as she sat down on a small stool on the side of my bed. 

I lifted myself up quickly, ignoring the pain I suffered in the process. I was so surprised to see my mother—but I wasn't sure if I was happy or angry. "I'm fine." I said after a short hesitation. I gripped onto the sheets of the bed in my hands tightly. "Is it over?" I asked.

"Yes." She replied, then went silent. So, the Rukonian war was finally over. My mother sighed, looking down at her shoes. She couldn't even look at me in the eyes. I could tell by her shaking hands that she was upset about everything that had happened. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she spoke again. "Seadra I'm really sorry About everything I shouldn't have run away like I did, I should've helped you You." My mother began to have tears going down her cheeks. She seemed to have trouble speaking. "You were nearly killed" She finally gasped.

I only nodded. I knew I nearly died. But I wasn't angry anymore. She had given me my pendent, and I had a strange feeling it was what had saved me. "It's not your fault" I said barely in a whisper as my mother wiped away her tears. "Mother When I was falling, the pendent you gave me began to glow, why?" I had to know what had happened. 

My mother looked at me; "It glowed? When you grew those wings? And when you stopped in mid air?" Her eyes widened in shock. I swallowed and nodded. "Seadra," My mother started with a sigh, "do you remember that painting of the Rukonian woman you found when you were seven?" Again, I just nodded. I remembered that very well. The painting portrayed a beautiful woman with flowing blond hair and a silk dress at a sunset. She also had wings. It was when I found it when I found out I was a Rukonian. "That woman is said to be the goddess of Rukonians—the Tsubasa no Kami."

I paused, "Tsubasa no Kami? What does that mean?" I asked in confusion. 

My mother sighed and explained. "It's a Japanese name for the Goddess of Wings." She started, appearing nervous. "According to a legend, one of our the Tsubasa no Kami and in thanks, she gave him the pendent we have today. She told him it would bless our family with her love and grant eternal protection. Also, it provided a heaven for those after death. I don't know if it's true, but it seems that when you were in danger, the pendent began to glow and a miracle occurred. Perhaps the legend is true" My mother looked at me, then reached out and held my pendent in her hand. "Perhaps the Tsubasa no Kami saved you"

At first, I thought it was just a legend and nothing more. But after thinking it through, I knew it was completely possible. I remembered hearing about some war that occurred thousands of years ago—when strange and lost technology was used. There was supposed to have been a huge war that resulted in the extinction of hundreds of races, and Rukonians were thought to have been one of them. Of course, that proved to be false. At that time, Earth was called Dosha. Back then, there was said to have been strange races, magic and gods. Of course, there was no proof of it ever happening. Most thought it was just a tale and nothing more.

My mother let go of my pendent and got up. "Seadra, Andy and Carol are safe." I sighed in relief hearing those words. "But there is a problem. Carol and Andy have no living relatives that will adopt them." As she spoke, she walked out of the room, leaving me puzzled and anxious.

"What?! What are they going to do then?! They'll be separated! Don't let that happen!" Carol needed to be with Andy and I, she saw us as her only family. But there was no way for that to happen. I knew how adoption agencies worked. They would be separated and be stuck with people they didn't know. I knew Andy wouldn't be happy about it at all—and Carol would just be terrified. 

I then noticed a small smile on my mother's face. I blinked as she opened the door and Andy and Carol walked in. They looked completely fine—in fact, they looked better than ever. The clothing they wore was clean and they had big smiles on their faces. 

"Seadra," my mother started, "meet your new sisters."

I nearly fell off the hospital bed! The girls laughed and ran over to me. Andy tackled me and Carol clung onto me like a Heracross on tree sap. 

"Seadra!" Carol cried. "You're okay!" I wrapped my arms around Carol and hugged her close. I had never felt so happy before. The war against Rukonians was over and now Carol and Andy were going to live with me as my new sisters.

Andy smirked and ruffled up my already-messy hair. "Glad to see us or what?" I smiled and playfully punched her shoulder. Andy laughed, "Carol and I have spent the past few days with your mother and she's a real nice person. Good thing, or else we'd be terrified to move in!" She smiled and then I heard something at the door. I looked over to it and was thrilled to see Raichu charge at me and jumps onto my lap, hugging me tightly. 

I was so relieved to see Raichu was alright. I smiled, but then I decided to skip the happy moment and get straight to my questions regarding Mr. Roloc and my father. "Andy," I started, "What happened to Mr. Roloc and my father?"

Andy and Carol paused and looked at me. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Andy replied. "Mr. Roloc is fine. Your father died though in the building They found out he shot himself before the smoke suffocated him." I nearly choked on my own breath when Andy told me this. It wasn't until then I regretted leaving him there. I should've saved my father There was a dead silence that lasted for a few moments before Carol broke it. I looked down and hugged Raichu closer to me. 

"Seadra," she started, "the people love Rukonians now. They call us angels because of you. The police are searching for Mason now He's highly wanted for his crimes against us and other Rukonians." She explained.

"What other Rukonians?" I asked. How could he have harmed other Rukonians besides us? Raichu perked its ears up and listened. 

Andy sighed and held Carol close to her. Their expressions were filled with sorrow and hurt. I waited until Andy replied to my question. "Mason got all his money from capturing Rukonians and sending them to anti-Rukonian groups. They paid a lot of money But when the Kilinda Clan was formed, more Rukonians were being captured which resulted in less for him to catch Which was why he went bankrupt and betrayed us." 

It all finally made sense to me. Mason made his money by capturing Rukonians, then he probably found out about the Orb of Mew and figured he would capture the most vulnerable Rukonians he could find, and get them to get it for him. But since we failed and the Kilindas were capturing all the Rukonians, he ran out of money and got rid of us. I felt like such a tool—I felt like a part of a cruel game. Nothing was fair to me. But then again, things were better now. Andy and Carol had a family again—my family. My father's death was something I realized had to happen. He just wasn't someone who would change his views on Rukonians. After all, he hated them so much that he turned on me—his own daughter. 

As the day went by, I told Andy and Carol about the legend regarding my pendent and the strange occurrences that took place in the fire. We all were very skeptical about it, but at the same time, we knew there was no other possible explanation. Carol described the spurt of my new wings as being the most beautiful thing she's ever seen, and it made her feel like she was flying herself. Andy said they made her heartbeat faster and she felt a strange power grow within her. Again, no explanations to that. 

By the end of the day, the girls and I realized what we had to do. We were going to risk it all and find Mason once I recovered. Apparently the adrenaline that went through my body during the fire had drained all my strength, and the minute it was over, I went into shock and fainted. Of course, I woke up a few days later, covered with burns, a gunshot to my arm and a few minor injuries. It would be awhile before I recovered and regained all my strength. But I knew when I did, we would look for Mason and make sure we got to him before the cops did.

Andy, Carol and I had unfinished business with his hide. 


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter #17

"It's been two years," Andy growled, approaching Mason slowly. "And now you will finally get what you deserve for your crimes against Rukonians." We were in a large lab in an underground base. It was here Mason had been hiding ever since that day when I woke up in that hospital bed after saving Mr. Roloc's life. A lot had changed since then—Andy and Carol lived with my mom and I. We were truly like sisters and our Pokemon enjoyed plenty of exercise ever since we started warming up for the Pokemon League. It's true, just like Victoria had promised so long ago, we were now Pokemon Trainers earning badges like most teens our age. 

As I looked at mason, I could see the anger, hate and fear in his eyes. His hands were shaking as he was backed into a wall. 

Our wings were out—mine were my usual wings, not the special ones I had grown so long ago. No one was able to explain it, so I concluded it was probably the Tsubasa no Kami. Carol's visions were less frequent, and they were never of anything bad like they used to. She would still play her jokes on us by reading our minds, which was sometimes annoying. Unfortunately, Carol had become a lot like Andy—hotheaded and secretive. She hated Mason more than anything in the world, and she promised herself that she would find him and end his life for killing Victoria. 

Our pokemon weren't with us during our final fight with Mason. We didn't want them dragged into our battle—we wanted to get back at Mason with our own hands. It took us almost a year to find it, but after a lot of public investigations, we found it. We didn't think twice before getting there.

Mason growled at us from the back of his throat. His hands were curled into fists and his skin had gone white. He struggled each word he forced out of his lips, "Even if you do kill me, I will never regret my actions. Besides, even with me gone, the war won't be over against you" He snarled.

Carol's eyes narrowed, "The war is long over It will stay that way" She growled as she tucked in her wings. Her hands were shaking in her rage against Mason. Already orbs of ice were forming in her palms. She just couldn't wait to kill him. 

Mason smirked, "Oh really?" I blinked. "The Hasidi Clan will never give up As long as the clan's descendents are alive, you foolish Rukonians won't stand a chance"

Andy took a step forward. "What do you mean?" She asked, but her tone made it seem more like a no-choice thing.

Mason's grin widened. "You Rukonians were the reason my ancestor, the man who brought life to the Hasidi Clan, crumbled. You stopped us from achieving our goal of creating a perfect world. Even after so many centuries, the descendents of the Hasidi Clan live on. They will raise up and destroy you all!" He began to laugh almost insanely. He didn't care if we killed him or not—he believed this "Hasidi Clan" would get us. I wondered if it had anything to do with the war my mother described 

I couldn't help but wonder at that moment if the Orb of Mew had anything to do with this. So, I spoke up to ask him--why did he want the Orb of Mew? "What about the Orb of Mew?" I asked, "Why did you send us to get it? Why did you need it?" I demanded to know--I wouldn't let him not answer my question. We all risked our lives getting that thing. 

"Simple," Mason started, "to awaken the Tsubasa no Kami so she could destroy the world!" He then began to laugh evily, it gave me the chills. "The 'Orb of Mew' is the heart of the goddess. I was mearly hoping you would awaken her and she would destroy the world... That has always been the goal of the Hasidi Clan you fools!"

"Oh shut up!" Andy snapped at Mason's laughing. "You can go on and on about all that crap, but you know what? I don't give a damn!"

When I wasn't paying attention, Mason swiped a pistol out from his jacket's pocket. We all froze dead in our tracks. "You were saying?" He grinned. He had the chance to kill us all right there. But I thought fast and shot a bolt of electricity at his hand and zapped the gun from his hands. It fell to the floor and Mason was about to reach out to retrieve it, but he paused when he saw Andy.

She brought her hands infront of her and began to form a flame in her palms. "It's time for you to die." 

Mason closed his eyes, "Go ahead." He sighed; he must've given up. 

So much was happening at once. It was less than an hour ago when we heard about Mason's underground base. I almost didn't want to do this. Mason was powerless now—he was a wanted criminal. I would rather leave him hiding and running for the rest of his life than killing him myself. I didn't want to kill anyone—I was sick of people dying. 

Andy raised her arms high in her arms, then launched the huge flames at Mason. The flames were hot; I could feel them even though I wasn't very close. They struck Mason down onto the ground. He screamed in pain as the flames swallowed him up and burnt his skin to a black color. I had to turn away, it was a gruesome thing to see—but his screams were almost as bad.

Carol stepped forward, "My turn." With that, she opened her palms and a beam of ice shot straight at Mason. His feet were frozen solid onto the ground. He was knocked down onto his knees and they were frozen into place. The ice crawled up his body until the only part of his body free from the ice was his head. Of course, because of the flames Andy had just used, the ice began to melt quickly. It was my turn now and I didn't have much time. 

A few minutes had passed. I just stood there, unable to move. I didn't want to kill anyone, even if it was Mason. "What are you waiting for, Seadra?!" Andy shouted, "Finish him off!" She ordered. 

I gulped and looked down at Mason. He had destroyed so many lives, including our own. I wasn't sure exactly what I felt when I looked down at his terrified expression. He deserved to be killed for his crimes, but nothing would come of it. 

"Seadra!" Andy screamed as she smacked my back with one of her wings, "Just finish him off with an electric attack!" She gave me one of her unforgiving glares—the same one that she used to give Mason all the time. 

I looked back down at Mason, the one I used to look to—the one I trusted with my life. The golden rings in his eyes were almost gone and his sweat messed up his brown hair and dripped down his scar. He wasn't running, he wasn't going to, I knew it. He knew he was trapped, you could tell by the look on his face. He wasn't going anywhere. Any slight movement he would make would probably result in Andy, Carol and I to attack him all at once with our strongest attacks. I bit my lip, almost to the point of drawing blood.

I looked behind myself to see Carol. Her wings were tucked in onto her back and I could see the tenseness in her green eyes. I had never seen her so intense in the two years I had known her. 

"If you don't do it, Seadra, I will." Carol said in a straight tone. She was serious, this was really important to her. 

I thought to myself, it wasn't right; I didn't want to do it. I couldn't, and I wouldn't let Andy or Carol do it either. I looked back to Andy with a serious expression, "No. I won't do it. It's not right. It doesn't matter what Mason did, no matter how awful. We've done enough to him. We already destroyed his own life..." Since the war had ended, Mason spent his months running from everyone and everything. He had nothing left. He was seen as being worst than Hitler ever since our story was published in newspapers. "Please Andy" I pleaded. 

"Are you thinking straight, Seadra?" Andy growled, "Don't you remember everything he did to us? Don't you remember what he did to Victoria?! Shoot, stop and think about it, damn it!" 

Suddenly, red lights from around the lab-like room began to flash and whirl around. An alarm went off and its rings stung my ears. The walls began to shake and glass jars and other strange objects began to fall off the shelves around the room. Andy and Carol looked around, trying to figure out what caused the place's alarm to go off. 

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw Mason take advantage of the situation and reach out to his pistol. By now, all the ice that had trapped him had melted. He had that pistol aimed straight at me. I froze. I could see straight down the hole where a bullet could shot out of in a split second. Carol and Andy paused. They knew if they tried anything, he could fire. I swallowed hard and bit my lip, closing my eyes lightly. 

Out of nowhere, the sudden bang of two guns rang through my ears. I heard Andy and Carol scream. I paused for a moment, gathering my thoughts. I didn't feel anything at all. Had I been shot and died? I opened my eyes slowly. My vision was blurred but it cleared up quickly. There, lying on the concrete floor, was Mason. A small pool of blood formed around his body. I gasped.

My hands were shaking—what happened? Andy and Carol looked behind them, to the main door. I dragged my eyes to that door and saw a shadowed figure. It was a male, and he had a pistol in his hand. I recognised his face—it was Chris. I hadn't seen him since the day Mason betrayed us. 

He ran over to us quickly. His expression was filled with panic as he reached Andy. I looked to her and noticed something—a red bloodstain on the front of her white shirt. I froze dead in my tracks. When Chris had shot Mason, Mason must've gotten Andy. 

"Andy!" Carol screamed in horror as she caught her as she nearly collapsed. Chris helped lay her down on the ground. The shot was right in her chest—she was alive, but no doctor could save her. In a few moments, she would be dead. I felt hot tears fill my eyes and cloud my vision. First, I lost Victoria Now, Andy. Both to the same man—Mason. 

Andy opened her eyes weakly. Her face had gone pale and the bloodstain was getting bigger. Carol was crying. "I'm sorry" I choked out. If I had just killed Mason when I was told to—Andy wouldn't have been shot. It was all my fault. I hated myself for what I did. 

"No" Andy whispered. Her voice was scratchy and weakened. I continued to cry as Carol clung onto her tightly, refusing to let her die. "I'm the sorry one I let my rage take over me and Carol You were right Seadra." Andy coughed up some blood, I sobbed. "You and Carol were my only true family My family always hated me My father hated me because he wasn't my real father And my mother hated me because I wasn't his daughter either They never excepted me as one of them" A single tear rolled down her cheek. It suddenly made sense. Andy never wanted to get close to us because she was never close to her own family. Her father hated her because she wasn't his daughter, but someone else's, and because of that, her mother hated her. 

Andy looked over to Carol and she gingerly ran one of her gloved hands through her bright purple hair. "Take care of Ninetales And never forget our origins The Tsubasa no Kami" With that, her eyelids closed and her hand slipped away from Carol, landing onto the floor. Andy was dead.

"ANDY!" Carol screamed the moment she realised Andy was dead. Chris turned away, his hands were shaking. 

"I'm so sorry" he choked. I knew he was crying, but he didn't want to show it. "I came too late" He turned around to face me. His normally friendly face had so much regret and hate in it. "I wanted to repay you three for ever helping Mason But I feared that you would've thought I was still with him and you would never trust me I'm sorry"

Carol sniffled as she ran a hand through Andy's red hair. "It's okay You did save Seadra Andy would've preferred to have died than see Seadra get hurt I know that"

I whipped away a few of the tears had that flooded my eyes. I looked down at Carol, "What makes you think that?" I asked.

Carol sighed, "Psychic."


End file.
